


Welcome to the New Age

by Vergil1989



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins, The Flash (TV 2014), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Dragon Age Series, F/F, F/M, Fifth Blight, Flash Family, Headcanon, Major Dragon Age spoilers, Major Young Justice spoilers, Multiple Fandoms, Multiple Pairings, Post Season 2 Young Justice, Pre Dragon Age Origins, Team Arrow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2018-04-23 03:53:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 136,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4862042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vergil1989/pseuds/Vergil1989
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a month since Wally fell in the line of duty, and while the Light is still active, the team discovers a terrifying new threat. It has no concept of fear, mercy, compassion, or morality. Its only objective? Destruction. But where did it come from? This and many questions will have to be answered if they wish to survive. (Will be rated M later. Post S2 YJ, pre DAO)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trouble in Arkham

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Updated opening notes in the first chapter. Added the first of several pictures I plan to throw into this as the need arises, for those less than savvy with either fandom. While the pic I found wasn't the best quality, it works well enough to get my point across.
> 
> Also, as a quick side note, myself and my partner, Nomad-117 over on Fanfiction.Net, have been making changes where we deem them appropriate to the DC side of things. For a quick example, the Mister Freeze they gave us in Young Justice was not the Mister Freeze we should have received in our opinion. That and a few other things we've gone out of our way to change to make this a hopefully better story. Anyway, enjoy!

_**Opening Notes;**_ _Originally, this story started with Zatanna using a spell that ended up blowing up in her face, thus sending her and most of the team to Thedas about the same time the Amells, and Hawke, were fleeing the Blight. They would have wound up in Kirkwall, but for the life of me, I could not get the story to go where I wanted it to go, so I eventually gave up on it as a lost cause. Then I found a couple of Dragon Age stories recently, and it gave me a new way to approach this. How they get there will be the interesting part. D_

 _Also, thank you_ _ **Nomad-117**_ _for the help on this, as well as_ _ **Archer83**_ _. They provided more than a few ideas for this latest insanity lol. Check out their stories if you get the chance, you won't regret it. For now,_ _ **Welcome to the New Age.**_

Heroes pictured, starting from the far back left.

Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle.

Cassie Sandmark/Wonder Girl

Tim Drake, second generation Robin

La'gaan/Lagoon Boy

Conner Kent/Superboy

M'gann Morzz/Miss Martian

Garfield Logan/Beast Boy

Kaldur'ahm/Aqualad

Artemis Lian Crock/Tigress, formerly known as Artemis

Wally West/Kid Flash.  KIA

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl

Karen Beecher/Bumblebee

Mal Duncan/Guardian

**Episode 1; Trouble in Arkham**

**Gotham City, Connecticut**

**Arkham Asylum**

**August 15th, 2016**

**10;37 PM**

The high dark walls towered forebodingly for anyone that approached the infamous building that sat on the edge of Gotham City. No one was welcome here, the gothic architecture said as much at least. Gargoyles lined the edges of the roof of the three storied estate, the entire perimeter had a high, brick and metal fence that ended in wickedly pointed spikes, and the land itself had twisted and gnarled trees that dotted the open grounds within the fence. This place was a prison despite what the sign on the front gate said to the contrary.

Once a place of healing called Mercy Mansion, it was now little more than a prison for criminals whose insanity defied any reason. To say that the Asylum had a spotty record was putting it mildly, escapes were frequent and more than one staff member had become a resident. Even the chief of staff had become a permanent resident once upon a time, proving that no one was safe from whatever madness had gripped the Asylum and hadn't let go since its initial conception in the 1900s. And the modern criminally insane 'patients' proved things hadn't gotten any better.

The screams and curses from the criminally insane were common fare for any guards unfortunate enough to walk through the infamous Arkham Asylum. To the uninitiated, it would have sounded like any other day, but for those that had been around for some time, there was clearly something wrong. There was a noticeable edge in the air, a tension that wasn't normal, even for the ancient, notorious Asylum, and the guards and inmates alike noticed.

"Hey Harry. Is it just me, or is there somethin' weird goin' on today?" One man asked as he waved his ID badge over the scanner before a blue, pulsating forcefield while the man behind the bulletproof checkpoint checked the information before deactivating the field. The checkpoint guard only shrugged. "Gee thanks."

"I just started last week Gerard, crazy sounds crazy to me." Harry grunted back before going back to his magazine.

"I'd put that away if I was you Harry. Bats might drop in or send one of his sidekicks since the inmates are actin' crazier than usual. Just you wait and see!" Harry only grunted again while Gerard sighed before walking through the checkpoint just as the forcefield activated behind him. "Fine, your funeral." Without another word, Gerard continued on his rounds through the two level cellblock, a number of walkways and stairways on either side of the hallway. Guards were stationed almost everywhere, a number of crowd control weapons ranging from riot shields and high powered stun batons evident on their persons. All it would take for them to gather equipment of a more deadly nature were for the alarms to start going off, and every man and woman in the complex would run for the nearest armory. They were highly trained officers, ready to respond to almost any threat at the drop of a hat. They dealt with the likes of Mister Freeze, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and worse, and they were still there to talk about it.

Gerard knew the Asylum, having been present during every major jailbreak in the last decade. He knew the complex was old, and had been built on top of a massive network of tunnels that connected to the city sewers. While most of those old tunnels were sealed, there were many that weren't since it was a literal maze down there. Once every couple of weeks, unless someone went missing or escaped, someone was asked to go down there and take a look around. Gerard was the unlucky man that got the detail this week.

He sighed as he activated his pocket mounted flashlight before taking his stun baton out. With the way the inmates had been acting up lately, as if they had been spooked by something worse than them, he was half tempted to go to the nearest armory and grab a shotgun and a box full of ammo, but he was already at one of the 'secret' entrances to the maze of tunnels below. He didn't want to turn back now, to appear weak in front of his fellow guards only to likely find a pack of giant rats or something which could easily be dealt with by a few well placed zaps. So instead, Gerard pushed upon a certain brick in a distant corner of the basement level and wasn't surprised when the wall slid away to reveal a dark, musty tunnel beyond.

With the lights out, not that surprising given the recent end of the world plot the Justice League and their sidekicks had averted by the skin of their teeth, (a lot of places had suffered at least minimal damage during the attempted Reach Apocalypse,) Gerard was glad he had taken the time to make sure his flashlight was fully charged. The last thing he needed was to stumble into a spider's nest or something equally unpleasant while fumbling around in the dark. His thoughts derailed though when his nose picked up on something foul.

It was the smell that alerted him to something worse than rats. Gerard immediately powered up his baton and started forward, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as he proceeded forward. Activating the ear comm wedged into his right ear, Gerard waited until the wall slid back before sending a message to central command. "We might have a problem down in the tunnels. There's a horrible stench, possibly from a body. Hate to say it but we might have a dead stiff down here. Have someone do a sweep, see if any of our 'guests' are missing."

"Roger that." Was the response as Gerard proceeded forward down the stone and steel reinforced tunnel, the occasional wooden pylon acting as support for the cavern roof. Coming up on a fork that split in two different directions, Gerard was about to take a closer look when his comms beeped. "None missing that we can tell. Although we found something odd in one of the basement cells by your point of entry. Looks like some kinda weird fungus. One of the guards swears up and down that it tried to grab him when he got close."

He didn't hear any of it though as movement caught his attention. "Step into the light, now!" Gerard shouted as he grabbed at his side arm with his free hand. The shadows ahead went deeper into the tunnel, away from his current position, and disappeared into the right hand passageway. "Guess we do this the hard way pal." He grunted as he ran ahead. He never saw the second group as they swarmed from the left side passage, and slammed into his back, hard. He tried to roll to a stop, but the enemies from the right had since turned back, closing the jaws of their trap. He never saw the sword coming.

**August 19th, 2016**

**7;12 PM**

"Why are we patrolling the Asylum again?" Artemis grumbled as she turned to Jaime, Dick, and Virgil as they were cleared through the checkpoint by one of the Asylum guards without a word needing to be said to them. They were working with the Justice League, that was good enough for most people. She sighed though as she adjusted the bronzed tigress mask before Artemis put her hand on her slender hip. Despite the good work they did on a regular basis, she didn't want to be here. It felt too much like a prison, where her mother had spent a lot of time while she was still in diapers.

"I don't know, I just thought we were gettin' the grand tour." Jaime said as he shot a glance over his own shoulder. The sentient blue scarab attached to his spine remained silent to everyone except him. "Yeah I know. We're here under Batman's orders, doesn't mean I can't be curious!" None of his team so much as raised an eyebrow at the young man who was seemingly talking to himself. The guards however gave him a strange look, but Jaime ignored them, having grown used to the stares a long time ago.

Nightwing pulled up video surveillance of the heavily secured cells that housed some of the most dangerous criminally insane the world had ever seen, the Joker being the worst of the bunch. "Because of this." The black armored, blue bird insignia emblem on his chest marked him as a member of the Bat clan. The holographic interface that appeared over his right wrist also marked him as their technologically superior minded member of the team. "Arkham guards and now inmates are disappearing. Something or someone is responsible. Batman wants to know what, and so do I."

The video had their undivided attention as Gerard went to investigate the tunnels under the complex, but he never returned. An hour of fast forwarded video later, something came out. "What the heck was that?!" Virgil pointed at the image of some kind of creature sticking his head out of the tunnel before slipping back inside. "Did Halloween come early and no one bothered to send me the memo?"

"Sorry Static, no such luck." Nightwing replied as he deactivated the video before motioning his friends forward with him in the lead. "We need to detain and interrogate if possible, see what that thing is, if it has allies. What its plans are."

"The usual then. Got it. If it's alien, that's why I'm here." Jaime said as he had his scarab activate the armor that was his own trademark. The blue beetle styled, form fitting armor enveloped and encased him from head to foot, covering his civilian clothes without any trouble or discomfort to him. It was no secret that the armor came equipped with all manner of defensive and offensive weaponry, as well as an universal translator. If it talked, Jaime could understand it, thanks to the scarab's advanced alien tech.

"Yeah, stay alert though. Something here doesn't feel right." Dick muttered as he nodded to Artemis, who immediately drew her sword from the sheath on her back and the hand crossbow on her hip.

The rest of the team followed her example as Virgil pulled a circular piece of metal out of his pack, threw it on the ground at his feet before he channeled lightning through his board. A moment later, it started levitating a foot off the ground, even after he hopped on top of it, perfectly balanced. "Oh yeah, still loving this meta gene power I got." Virgil grinned as he pulled his goggles over his eyes and easily kept pace with his friends.

Blue Beetle meanwhile primed his sonic cannon. His right blue and black hand glove shifted, elongated as it grew at the same time, and powered up a sonic charge once his chosen weapon had finished transforming. All it would take was a thought to activate the **mostly** non lethal, but powerful, weapon.

No one said it, but the bad feeling Nightwing had hinted at, they all it felt as well. They had seen too much and experienced hardships galore to ignore their instincts now, and all of them were saying the same thing. They were walking into the lion's den.

"Why are you leading the team anyway Nightwing? I'm not complaining, I'm just curious." Artemis asked as she kept her gray eyes focused on everything around her. They had since reached the basement level, where several people had gone missing since those in control of the Asylum had called in outside help.

"Kaldur was asked to protect his King's wife and son while he was busy on a League mission. Black Manta has been causing trouble, and Kaldur and several members of the team were asked to assist. That left us." Dick replied as he pulled his escrima sticks from his belt before he activated the same door Gerard and his unknown assailant had disappeared through. "Impulse and a few others are in the Watchtower, they can zeta beam down at a moment's notice if we run into something we can't handle." While the chances of that were slim, the reassurance was enough to relieve some of the tension from the four heroes.

"Well alright then, who wants to go into the spooky tunnel first?" Virgil asked, trying to keep the mood light as he drew power from the complex above by his very nature. After having been experimented on by the Reach invaders, his code name, Static, fit him perfectly since he could channel and redirect electricity as easily as breathing. "I can keep the juice goin' for a while, but ask me to light the place up, and I might be a liability." He explained as the lights flickered before eventually remaining steady. The terrible smell wasn't helping, but he blocked it out for the most part.

"So find the generator, got it." Dick stated as he brought up an up to date map of the maze of tunnels they were heading into. "Unless someone's been digging down here, this should be an accurate 3D representation of the tunnels. We could search for days down here and not find anything, but we're not going far. Not if we don't want to end up on the MIA list like everyone else who's gone down here. We're here to recon the first two sub basement levels, that's it. If we don't find anything on these two, we come back with more of the team." The others nodded their heads before falling into a classic diamond formation, with Nightwing at their point.

"Let's find the emergency generator first. We're still not sure just what Static's capable of." Artemis stated, and Dick nodded his head as he highlighted a section of the map, further into the maze. Before Virgil could try and say he would be fine, Artemis put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not saying you're not strong enough to stand with us, we're just being careful. Alright?"

"Right, sorry, still getting used to this gig." Virgil shot back as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Mentor's an awesome teacher, been pushing me pretty hard, but I appreciate what he's been doin'. Especially since I started out with Luthor and all." It was an old story, but one that he didn't like to talk about considering what Lex Luthor represented. He was the white collar prince of crime, and one of the few humans that had ever ran against Superman and come close to putting the Man of Steel six feet under.

"Esse, you worry too much about that bro." Jaime replied as he activated his suit's advanced sensor array, his protected eyepieces flashing yellow, and began to do an extensive sweep. He stopped when he saw a trail of blood leading away towards the left hand tunnel. "Found blood, almost three days old from what the scarab's tellin' me. Likely belongs to one of the guards jeffe." He said as he looked to Dick. His armor covered face still showed his worry quite clearly.

"Okay. Stick close and keep your head on a swivel." Again they nodded, their earlier tension increasing exponentially since they had hoped they'd find the guards and inmates still alive. The trail of blood suggested they'd only find body parts, and that didn't sit well with any of them. They were used to hostage situations, fighting armed men in most instances, not seemingly wild beasts intent solely on bloodshed. This was something else, every instinct they had screamed it at them.

Entering the chamber where the generator was located, Dick held up a hand and pointed to what was left of the guard that had gone missing just a few days ago. He had been….eaten, for lack of a better word. The bite marks were distinctive, humanoid, and their was some kind of strange fungus covering what little of the body that hadn't been viciously mauled. When Virgil went to touch it, Dick slapped his hand back before pulling a small knife from his utility belt, as well as an empty vial. "Dude, that's just gross." Virgil stated as Nightwing collected a sample of the fungal residue and deposited it into the empty vial.

"You might be glad I did if this fungus is contagious in any way. We'll need to analyse this as soon as we get back." Dick replied as he stood to his feet and turned to the others who had been busy in trying to get the generator going. "Any luck?"

"No, the generator's been smashed. Something big came through here and tore it to pieces." Tigress stated as she jerked her head to what was left of the generator. If Dick hadn't known any better, he'd have said Conner had been down there and had used it as a punching bag. The frame was dented, shredded, as if someone with incredible strength had pummeled it into the ground. The fact that Superboy was with Kaldur and most of the team, and that the footprints in the dust were a lot bigger than he was, said otherwise though. More of the same purplish fungus was also present, covering the smashed generator and the ground around it. "Whatever hit this also left this mess behind." The blonde archer said as she swept her eyes over the mess. "Kinda reminds me of those fire bogs on Raan that Beast Boy talked about."

"This stuff **reeks** mi amigo. Like something was left rotting in the sun for a year." Blue Beetle groaned as he waved his hand in front of his face. "Even the scarab doesn't like that stuff. Said something about it being….unnatural. Not compatible, like Apokoliptian tech." Jaime paused then and sighed. "Oh fine esse. It says that it can do a field analysis if you want Nightwing, but it would take time. We'd be defenseless while it did the scan." By 'we', Jaime meant himself and the scarab, a clarification none of them needed.

"Let's wait and see what's up ahead first BB. I'd rather have all hands on deck." Nightwing replied before they stopped at another junction, this one splitting off into three different directions. The first two passages led to empty chambers that hadn't seen anyone in them for some time. Stacks of old, forgotten boxes and palettes were stacked almost to the ceiling along with barrels of gasoline, among other things. The third on the far left however, wasn't so deserted, or quiet for that matter. Without a word, all of them moved forward as quietly as they could, hoping they could get close without being seen. To find out what they were up against at last.

When they turned a corner they saw a group of small ugly little creatures, standing just at the edge of the light, but as soon as the creatures saw them, they turned and ran into the darkness. All the while, the strange creatures growled and screeched in high pitched tones.

"Cowards." Artemis muttered disdainfully.

"After them quickly, before we lose them!" Nightwing ordered and chased after them but still never stopped his observation of their surroundings. Something didn't feel right, but if he wanted to catch these creatures he had to take a risk. "BB, think you can slow 'em down?!"

"On it jeffe!" Jaime shouted back as he shifted his sonic cannon and replaced it with what most of the team called his staple gun. A blue light appeared within the weapon before bars of metal shot out of the end of it, slamming into a trailing enemy's back and slamming him into the distant wall. The two pointed ends attached to the bar buried themselves deep into the wall, pinning the beast where it stood. "Ha! Bullseye!"

"Behind ya BB!" Virgil shouted back as several more shadows peeled themselves from the passage they had just left. Blue Beetle jumped back as the nearest one slashed at him with a hideously clawed hand while Static blocked a second with his board as he shot backward like a rocket, a trail of blue electricity following in his wake.

"We've been led!" Nightwing shouted when the tunnel ahead of them became alive with activity. The creatures they had been chasing were soon joined by several more of various shapes and sizes, all of them armed with crude weapons and armor.

"Gee, you think?!" Artemis shouted while firing one crossbow bolt after another at the oncoming horde, each one finding its mark in an non-lethal area, but still incapacitating them. "What was your first clue?!"

"You want me to answer that?!" Static shot back, his hands enveloped in electricity which he promptly fired into the creatures that had gotten the drop on them. They gave ear piercing shrieks before falling to the ground, their shaggy like manes of hair standing on end from the static discharge he had thrown into their midst. "Way back's clear, far as I can tell! Let's book it!"

"Right behind ya!" Blue Beetle said as he stapled several more into the walls and floor before two transparent wings sprouted from his back. "Let's go mi amonos! We need backup!"

"Someone with some sense!" Artemis growled as she kicked at the nearest of the creatures, sending it spinning to the floor as she slammed her fist into a second. She followed that by slamming her foot into a third beast's chin, dropping it like a sack of rotten apples.

Nightwing spotted the new shape first and warned the others. "Watch out!"

The warning nearly came too late as a fireball flew from the thing's hands and exploded near Blue Beetle's head. "Per porver! What the heck was that?!" Jaime groaned as he pulled himself off the floor. Even as the words left his mouth, the scarab was supplying an answer.

The parts of the armor that were nearest to the blast seemed to spark slightly as if some form of residual energy was trying to eat through it. Dick had seen a lot of things in his time in the hero business, and the only thing he could think of that could cause such an reaction was magic. He lightly grimaced, he wasn't overly fond of the supernatural, it seldomly seemed to follow any logical guidelines which made it unpredictable. It also didn't help that Superboy and Superman, who could withstand the Omega Beams of Darkseid, were vulnerable to it. He was almost glad they weren't down here to see this debacle, let alone to put themselves in danger.

He was tempted to shake his head since hardheaded Kryptonians even without their powers, wanted to protect everyone from everything. Although Conner would never admit it, what with his attitude problems, but those thoughts were derailed when the creatures' mage started to incant again. "Tigress!" Dick shouted, and pointed to the mage in the back.

"Fancy headdress freak, got it!" Artemis shouted back as she ran up one of the monsters, sprung kicked off the back of his head, and leveled her crossbow at the mage before he could get another shot off. The high tensile strength net that shot out of the bolt entangled the monster and dropped him to the floor in a heap. "Target down! Let's go!" Artemis shouted as she landed in a crouch before fighting her way back to her teammates. That proved far easier for some reason. She didn't know why, but she suspected it had something to do with her taking down the mage. Because the rest of the monsters suddenly weren't so organized. Even so, what they lacked in coordinated assault, they more than made up for in primal rage.

"Might wanna blow the caves to the Asylum jeffe." Jaime stated as he fired back, having switched his staple gun for his sonic cannon. He swept his gun across a wide arc, forcing the monsters back as they slammed their hands over their ears before falling to their knees. The walls and ceiling started to shake from the sonic vibrations from his weapon, but they were too strong for him to bring it down himself.

"Artemis, Blue Beetle covering fire. The rest of you retreat." Nightwing ordered calmly while he threw a few explosive birdarangs at the creatures. The blasts knocking them down and unbalancing the ones further away. He took the brief time in the lull to throw a few more at the support pillars, further destabilizing the tunnels. The moment they found their marks, the explosions that followed had the ceiling starting to come down thanks in no small part to Blue Beetle's sonic disruption.

"Wait, where's the big one?" Static shouted over the sound of the explosions. Again he threw electricity at any that had managed to avoid their combined assault, laying them flat wherever his lightning fell on them.

 _Big one?_ Dick thought confused, until he remembered the smashed generator and the huge footprints beside it. _Oh hell! How could I have forgotten about that!_ The heavy hitter that came out of the collapsing tunnel they had just left had his blood turning to ice as it easily pushed through Static's assault. Even Blue Beetle's sonic cannon did nothing but annoy the muscular brute. It tossed its horned head, put an armored arm in front of its face, and kept charging forward. "This could be a problem. Full retreat, now!"

"Working on it!" Artemis shouted back as she battled aside a sword thrust meant for her stomach before spinning like a top, her right foot leading. Her boot clipped the creature across the face, blood flying from its battered mouth. Dick happened to be right next to the creature, and took the spray in the face. The foul tasting blood had Nightwing coughing and wiping at his face in an effort to keep anymore from getting into his eyes or mouth while Artemis dragged him away from the oncoming brute. "No more playing around!" Artemis shouted before she loaded up a foam bolt into her crossbow. Just as the giant horned monster started to take a swing at her and Nightwing, she fired, and wasn't disappointed as the quick hardening foam stopped the brute in its tracks. With him trapping the others behind it as the foam filled the tunnel, they didn't have to worry about immediate pursuit from the rest of its allies, leaving them time to get away.

They hadn't gotten far when Nightwing's comlink started to crackle before they could finally understand what was being said.

"Nightwing can you hear me? Nightwing come in!" The voice of Zatanna Zatara said via comlink. Dick tried to reply, but for some reason, he couldn't send anything, only receive. The others apparently had the same problem, even Blue Beetle which made Nightwing suspect magic once more. "Nightwing if you can hear me, do not I repeat do **not** enter the tunnels! We lost your signal shortly after you arrived at Arkham. There appears to be **a lot** of mystic energy from some unknown source. Standby until we find out more." Zatanna said as if to confirm his suspicion.

He sighed, the League always seemed to contact him with such information when it was already too late. He wouldn't be surprised if they called him one day to tell him that his heart stopped and that he should stop dying.

"So what's the plan?" Artemis asked Dick while she looked him over, checking for any wounds he would likely try to hide.

Dick shook her off since he had avoided getting hit. The only thing that had slowed him down was the blood she had accidentally gotten into his face. "We try to get out of this mystical jamming field and contact the League. This mystic anomaly they discovered is undoubtedly tied to these creatures." Nightwing decided, much to the relief of his teammates. They certainly would feel better when they had back up while facing these creatures. Just because they had collapsed and sealed one tunnel didn't mean those things wouldn't find another way out. If they hadn't already.

Speaking of the collapsed tunnel, Dick looked over his shoulder, and frowned when he could see a part of the giant's horns sticking out of the rubble. The foam at least had held the brute in place, but a part of him had hoped that thing would have been buried completely. While he was confident in his abilities, Nightwing wasn't about to fool himself into thinking they could take something that strong on their own. "BB, watch our backs. If that thing moves…"

"Got it hermano." Jaime said as he backed away, his staple gun primed and ready to pin the horned giant to the ground if it so much as twitched. "So….magical jamming field?" He asked after several tense, silence filled seconds. It would explain why his scarab had been unusually grumpy since they had entered the tunnels. Magic and his scarab armor didn't mix.

"It would seem so. Of course, we didn't get the heads up until **after** we came down here." Nightwing chuckled despite the rather dire situation. They didn't know how many of those things were here with them, and how far they had spread before they collapsed the tunnel that connected to the Asylum. "Still, could be worse I guess. We got out of there before we were overrun."

"Yeah, let's just hope the guards wise up and break out something a little stronger than those stun batons." Tigress grumbled as she again looked towards Nightwing, her gray eyes full of concern for whatever she had hit him with earlier. He still hadn't stopped coughing from the bad taste of blood lingering in his mouth, but at least he had started to look better from the initial splatter. That still didn't stop her from hovering at his side.

By the time they reached the secret entrance to the tunnels, Dick had stopped coughing altogether, and was able to walk out of the passageway under his own power. Only Static was surprised by the welcome they received as a large group of Arkham guards jammed an assortment of automatic weapons in their faces the moment they emerged. "Whoa! No need for that fellas! We're on your side!"

The guards looked at each other and simultaneously lowered their weapons, but Nightwing could tell that the rumbling below had likely alerted them to trouble. A quick explanation had them relaxing around the four heroes, but orders were quickly sent out to double patrols until they had an idea of what they were dealing with underneath the Asylum.

When they reached the main lobby of the Asylum, they saw that the League had finally decided to send reinforcements in the form of Zatanna, Impulse, Miss Martian, and Superboy. Having arrived by her bioship, a semi living vessel much like the martian's clothing which were designed to respond to her thoughts, Miss Martian was the first to nod her head to the four in front of her. No smiles or cheerful exclamations were heard from any of them. Until the situation was handled, it was all business. All in all, it was just another day for the team of former sidekicks.

"What can you tell me about the field, and what was with the late breaking news Zat?" Dick asked, earning him a small eyeroll from their sorceress supreme at his slight teasing.

The small smile disappeared off of her face though as she beckoned them outside. "It'll be easier if I just showed you." Zatanna said as she led the way outside of the building. "I'm surprised you didn't notice going in." She continued and pointed towards the darkening sky.

"We did….but it didn't look anything like _that_." Jaime said first, after he was able to found his voice again.

Upon their initial arrival, the team had noticed a number of dark storm clouds forming over the Asylum. While unusual, it wasn't exactly unheard of for storms to roll in. What was above the complex was far more than simple storm clouds. It was a swirling mass of pitch black, forebodingly ominous, voluminous clouds that were full of lightning and howling winds, but not a single drop of rain. "It's a manifestation of whatever is generating that jamming field." Zatanna confirmed their unspoken question when they had managed to tear their stunned gazes away. "The source is deep beneath us. That much I know for sure. We need to shut it down, fast."

"Easier said than done." Nightwing replied as he pulled up a recording of their fight against the monsters. "Besides the fact that they seem to come in all shapes and sizes, one type seemed to possess some level of magical ability." The gold color armored brute in the back of the horde was shown clearly by Nightwing as he paused the video with a few skilled finger taps at the wrist mounted computer embedded in his suit. "The headdress wearing creep seemed able to command the rest to some extent, giving us if nothing else, a target of opportunity in future engagements. The biggest problem however is that when we went in there, we were hit on all sides by their sheer numbers. We were lucky to have gotten out of there when we did."

It never ceased to amaze the team how thorough Nightwing, and by extension, Batman, was when it came to analyzing their opponents. One confrontation with this latest threat had revealed quite a bit of information for the observant youth. While they likely still had a lot to learn about the creatures, they had gained much needed intel that would save them a lot of headaches later.

Without their leaders, these creatures seemed to be fairly unorganized and primitive in their tactics, an advantage that could save their lives. When Artemis had tied up the mage with one of her special trick bolts, the rest of the monsters had devolved into a mass of uncoordinated primal brutes. Even so, that hadn't made them any less dangerous as a whole, and the effect had only been temporarily. Dick suspected that they would have to kill the mages to get a permanent reaction. That was something he wasn't looking forward to.

"You sure we can just subdue these things?" Conner asked, giving voice to something few of them wanted to openly consider after Dick had finished his detailed debriefing. "I'm just saying, if this is the head of an invading force, we might have to lose the kiddie gloves."

"This isn't some psychic training exercise Conner. We were trained to fight and defend innocent people, but killing? That's what we stop the bad guys from doing, but we don't do that ourselves." M'gann exclaimed, even as a part of her wondered if that was what it would take to end this menace before it got out of hand.

"We don't even know what they are, where they came from, or what they want. The scarab's thinking we might not have a choice but to get our hands bloody with these creeps. Somethin' about 'em doesn't seem natural." Jaime reluctantly agreed to Conner's statement, hating to do so but they were in this together or not at all. That was how it worked for them. They had come through too much together to start splitting apart at the seams now.

"You mean the fact that they tried to stab us? Or that it seemed like they wanted to eat our faces? Because I think that qualifies as not natural." Artemis said with a healthy dose of sarcasm. She held up a hand before any of the others could say a word. "I'm not eager with the prospect of going down there with the sharp and pointy arrows in my quiver, but I agree with Blue. Something about those things didn't strike me as the talkative type. Even the League of Shadows have **some** humanity about them, even if they are highly skilled killers. Hell, Mongul seemed better than those things, and that's saying something." Considering said Mongul had tried to destroy their world in an 'act of mercy' against their Reach occupiers, that was indeed saying something about whatever they had ran up against under the Asylum.

When all eyes fell on Virgil, he held up his hands and grinned sheepishly. "Hey, don't look at me. I just do what you guys do, just slower." He said, not about to pick a side since he honestly didn't know what to make of it all.

"I think we should learn more about them before we decide what kind of action we want to take. We are **not** Judge, Jury and Executioner. We won't make that kind of call until we can be sure that these things can't be reasoned with. We didn't kill the Reach, and we won't kill them either. Agreed?" Nightwing asked his team though it was said in a tone that made it clear that they better answer with "yes".

Artemis was the first to comment on the plan, making her distaste plain as day. "I still say it's a mistake, but we're with you Nightwing."

Dick took a moment to stare at the back of the archer's long blonde covered head before he opened his mouth. "Tigress, we all mi-"

"You **don't** want to finish that sentence." Artemis growled through her teeth before stomping towards the front doors.

Dick didn't need M'gann to tell him that even mentioning Wally had been a mistake as the martian woman put a hand on his shoulder. "When you tried to imply her new hostility was born of her grief, I sensed a great deal of rage. I….wouldn't do that again. It's still too soon for her."

"Can't imagine why." Conner muttered quietly. It was no secret to anyone on the team that they had loved each other. Artemis and Wally would have eventually gotten married, had kids, started a family, the whole nine yards. But the job had killed the speedster during the end of the Reach occupation.

Nightwing could understand that to a certain degree, but he was worried about her behaviour which seemed to get more and more violent. In her anger, she didn't even consider that she wasn't the only one who missed Wally. He had been like a brother to Dick, but he had yet to allow himself the time to grieve for his friend. He had to appear strong for the team, and maybe even more importantly, for himself.

To say that Artemis' recent behaviour was taxing would have been a colossal understatement, and Nightwing found it difficult to hold his tongue. He knew it was the right thing to do, but a part of him wanted to snap at her, to yell at her that she wasn't the only one who had lost a loved one that day. But now was not the time. They had a job to do, and they needed to see it through, one way or the other. "Let's get this done. Then we can hopefully figure out what we're up against before the night's through." Dick said at last and led the way back into the Asylum.

**Back in the tunnels**

Only a few people had a complete map of the Asylum, and Batman had long since mapped every square inch of the place from top to bottom. That meant Dick also had a copy, and he led all seven of his friends into another tunnel entrance shortly after catching up with Artemis. Once more, Static was asked to power up the lights in the tunnels while the rest of the team fanned out, covering every possible angle of attack.

"Stick together, we sure as hell won't split up like in those stupid horror movies." Nightwing told his team while he slowly creeped into the tunnel. "Zatanna, can you tell me what we're looking for?"

"I'll know it when I see it." Was all their sorceress would say on the subject.

"Well that's reassuring." Static stated, his tone light, but it didn't take a mind reader to know it was empty cheer as his eyes flicked back and forth. "Keep away from the walls, some of these things like to jump right outta them. Trust me, one of 'em got my board. Woulda got a leg if I hadn't jumped back when I did."

"Right." Conner growled as he tightened his fingers into fists before he cocked his head to the side. "East tunnel. There's a group up ahead, I'm sure of it." The kryptonian clone pointed to the nearby tunnel that likely joined the one they had collapsed earlier.

"Leave it to kryptonian hearing." M'gann's gaze had fallen to Conner's back, and more than a few of the team could tell what was on her mind if the twinkle in her brown eyes was anything to go by.

"Keep your head in the game Miss M." Dick gently reprimanded her, but couldn't help but smirk at the martian since it warmed his heart to know they had gotten back together. Conner and M'gann were good together in his opinion.

"The mystical energy seems to be coming from that general direction. It seems we'll have to face those creatures sooner rather than later." Zatanna stated after M'gann had hurriedly apologized for her momentary lapse.

"Good, it was getting boring anyway." Artemis muttered, obviously still in a foul mood. Loading a fresh bolt clip into her crossbow, the aptly named Tigress lead the way with Nightwing right behind her. Just as they entered a large chamber that gave way to stone walls and pillars of uncut stone, M'gann linked their minds telepathically, allowing them to stay in communication even if their comm links, for whatever, decided to stop functioning. A quick look down to the floor below them revealed a large number of the monsters. _I counted thirty, maybe more. Two of which are those gold, head dress wearing freaks._

 _I can hear a couple of big ones milling around down there. We take out the leaders, the rest should become disorganized and easier to manage._ Conner stated a moment later, hoping Dick's intel was right about how these things operated. If not, this was going to be a very short engagement.

 _Miss M, can you get us any information about them?_ Nightwing asked her mentally, hoping to get a feeling for the enemy.

 _I'll try, but I have a bad feeling about this._ A reassuring hand on her shoulder from the physically imposing Conner was all the incentive she needed as M'gann's brown eyes started to glow bright green, illuminating their corner of the dark chamber. Putting her hand to her forehead, she wobbled and if not for Conner keeping her steady, she would have fallen to the ground as a sudden onrush of weakness and fatigue hit her like a brick wall. As it were, it took all she had not to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of minds she had opened herself to. _Too many….all connected to something….can barely focus. I think...they are following something….something ancient, powerful….and malevolent beyond reason._ It was then that her eyes turned a sickly looking milky white as something started to overpower her directly. _Oh no….it knows I'm there! It's looking at me! I can't….I can't look away!_

 _M'gann! Disconnect! Disconnect now!_ Conner frantically shouted as he gently shook her, hoping to jar her back. When her eyes returned to their natural brown state, she slumped to the ground at his feet, the experience having exhausted her in more ways than one. Their telepathic link went down at the same time, relieving the pressure from the martian completely.

But it was already too late. Much too late, because the creatures in the chamber hissed in alarm, having felt the subtle mental touch of the young Martian, and they didn't like it at all. Worse still, they seemed to know where they were as all of them turned as one in their direction and slowly marched towards them, like they knew that there was no reason to hurry. As if they knew that they couldn't escape them.

"Um guys, not to state the obvious, but I think we're in trouble!" Virgil was the first to point out the obvious as an arrow was fired towards the balcony and embedded itself in the wall where he had just been hovering on his board. "Yeah, we're in trouble!"

"Not for long!" Conner shouted before using his body to shield M'gann who was still recovering from her attempt to mentally connect with the creatures below them. A giant rock, thrown by one of the horned brutes below, soared at them was shattered against the clone's fist when he punched the projectile before it could smash against the metal walkway. "Come on M'gann, we need to go!" Conner said as he turned and tried to help the martian to her feet, but she could only stand up for a moment without falling to the ground once more.

"Superboy's right, we're outmatched!' Nightwing shouted, already in the process of holding back three enemies at once with his escrima sticks while Artemis fought at his side. They kept the leading creatures from advancing up the stairs, but by the time they knocked them down, several more were already climbing over their fellows. Even with Blue Beetle using his sonic and staple weapons, keeping the ones on the floor below from running up the stairs, and Zatanna further slowing them down, there were just too many of them as fresh reinforcements poured out of the distant tunnels on the other side of the chamber. They had kicked the hornet's nest this time, and they were about to get stung.

"Superboy! Get down!" Nightwing shouted at his friend as fireballs and other magical projectiles began to rain down on the balcony from three different directions. Conner didn't hesitate as he pulled M'gann down with him, using his body to shield her. Despite his superhuman strength, the few magic based projectiles that found him still had him screaming as they tore through his super dense skin with ease.

Zatanna managed to deflect some of them but she visibly flinched under the onslaught. Even her vast reserves of mystic energy wasn't going to last under the sheer weight that had been thrown against them, and she could only incant so fast. And the news only got worse when she threw a shield over herself, Conner, and M'gann, and immediately felt weaker when another volley slammed into the shimmering barrier. "Something isn't right. Their magic, it feels corrupted! Like it's leeching my reserves right out of me!"

The fact Conner and M'gann were down for the count barely five minutes into the fight was bad enough, now Zatanna was telling him their magic was inflicting harm on her as well without actually touching her? There was only one thing Dick could do now, before more of his friends fell. "Fall back now, full retreat!" Nightwing shouted over the din of steel against steel, even as he and Tigress slammed their boots into their latest opponent and sent him tumbling down the stairs head over heels. A dense cloud of smoke appeared around the young man, obscuring them from their enemies' sight while they made a break for the tunnel they had used to enter the chamber. By the time the smoke cleared, all eight of them had vanished into thin air.

With the angry howls of their opponents echoing through the tunnels, demanding the flesh and blood they had been denied, the team ran for their lives. It was a new feeling, having to flee like this, and it was one none of them enjoyed even if it meant they'd fight another day. The first time they had underestimated the intelligence of these creatures, and the second time their numbers and their ruthlessness. If Dick were to make an educated guess, they wouldn't care how many of their own died as long as they got their prize. More than one projectile fired from their mages had killed a whole group of their own, and the rest had unflinchingly marched on.

"I'm just saying it now, if I hear an 'I told you so,' I'm going to be very put off." Dick grumbled when he caught Artemis staring at him. The blonde archer merely shrugged as she fired over her shoulder, filling the tunnel once more with a quickly expanding glob of hardening foam when the first of the monsters made the mistake of sticking their head into the tunnel. Looking to his right towards Blue Beetle, Zatanna, and Static, he was relieved to see Conner and M'gann were coming around as BB carried M'gann over his shoulder while Static handled the clone, having produced a second board from his pack. It hadn't taken much concentration on his part to rip a few pieces of sheet metal from the wall and form a kind of harness for Conner so he didn't end up falling off the levitating board as they fled.

Once they were out of the tunnel, Blue Beetle wasted no time in shooting the floor of the passageway they had just come out of with a high charged sonic disruption. The tunnel floor buckled and eventually crumbled away, leaving a good sized hole that they hoped would stop anymore of their assailants from using the tunnel in the future. Once the door was shut to the collapsed tunnel, BB gently set M'gann down while Static did the same for Conner. Zatanna was slumped against the wall, sweat pouring down her face from her attempt to hold back the magical assault directed at her friends. Only Dick and Artemis had gotten out relatively unharmed, and even they were exhausted.

Despite her earlier rage, Artemis was the first to stand shakily to her feet before she helped Nightwing up from the floor. "We need to….get back to the Watchtower."


	2. The Long Knight

_**Opening Notes** _ _; I feel like a complete idiot. I forgot I had listed Impulse in the last chapter and didn't give him a single line of text lol. May just go back and remove his name from the reinforcements sent to the Asylum, be far easier that way anyway. Beyond that major lapse, I think the last chapter came out pretty well, wouldn't you folks agree? Anyway, here's the second 'episode.' Enjoy!_

**Episode 2; The Long Knight**

**The Watchtower, Earth orbit**

**August 19th, 2016**

**11;37 PM**

Standing by the main window that overlooked the planet below, Kaldur'Ahm looked over his shoulder to regard those that had assembled in the meeting hall. Both Leaguers and his team were there, assembled around the massive table that dominated the center of the room. He had only returned an hour ago from protection duty to Queen Mera and her four year old son, and despite the detailed mission report regarding the threat beneath Arkham Asylum, Kaldur still couldn't believe what they had encountered. Conner was still recovering in the Watchtower infirmary, M'gann was still exhausted from her attempted telepathic link with the creatures, and Zatanna was in a mystic trance in an effort to recover her lost power.

The only ones that had gotten out of the tunnel complex below relatively unharmed had been Nightwing, Tigress, Static, and Blue Beetle, and even they were tired from the fight. What worried Aqualad was that Nightwing had begun to cough a few minutes ago, and since they didn't know what they were dealing with, he feared that he was infected with some unknown pathogen or disease. He was currently being examined from head to toe by Martian Manhunter in the isolation ward in the Tower. With the alien's vast knowledge of life beyond their planet, it was hoped he'd be able to isolate what it was that had started to run rampant through Richard's body.

They had also begun to analyse the sample that Nightwing had recovered from the corpse of the security guard. It was in another fully isolated laboratory, and was being analyzed down to its molecular structure. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to matter if it had been left on living tissue or on the walls of the tunnel it had been discovered in, its capability to slowly grow and cover everything it touched was beyond worrying. Starro Tech had been worrying, but this, this was downright terrifying.

They had never seen anything like it, and considering what the members of the League had seen, that was saying a lot. The closest thing Kaldur could think of was some kind of mutagenic plague, one they hadn't encountered before. It had even killed a few cockroaches they had exposed to it within moments, while the rest had transformed, becoming….for lack of a better word, corrupted parodies of themselves. They had grown bigger, became covered in deformities ranging from spikes to sharp, needle like teeth along their mandibles, and their aggression response had been increased to match their new found size. Whatever they were dealing with, it was extremely dangerous, that much Kaldur and the rest of them were coming to realize. When it became apparent the corrupted roaches couldn't safely be contained when they started to eat their way out of their isolation cell, they had been flushed out the nearest airlock with a little help from Hal Jordan and his Green Lantern ring.

"You've been quiet since your return Kaldur'ahm." King Orin said as he put a hand on the young Atlantean's broad shoulder. "I am certain that they will be fine." He continued, just as worried about this recent development as the rest of them, even as he tried to sound calm and collected. His eyes told the truth even though his neutral visage said nothing was wrong. Such a mask was necessary when one ruled most of the world's oceans and held dominion over those that inhabited it.

"Thank you my King, but that is not the only thing that worries me." Kaldur solemnly replied. "I read the reports twice and cross referenced them with engagements against previous foes. And of all the League's enemies, they are the most similar to Parademons from Apokolips, which Darkseid utilized in an alternate Earth about the same time the Apolaxians invaded **our** Earth. Of course, they are far more primitive, but their behaviour and tactics show some similarities. Both overwhelm their opponents with sheer numbers it would seem."

Alternate realities were known to exist, and in most of them, the Justice League had united and fought against some kind of otherwise overwhelming force from a distant world. While some things changed, some things remained the same, and the Justice League uniting under a single banner were one of the things that rarely changed, even if their reason for doing so varied from reality to reality.

"I agree, but what these creatures lack in technology, they make up for with their magic and variety, and no one should underestimate the danger of this new pathogen." Batman said directly behind them as both Atlanteans jumped in surprise. His expression even more serious and grave than it was usually, no doubt out of worry for Richard, his adopted son.

"Thank you, Batman." Aqualad said, uncertain what to say to the dark clad hero, though he was truly honored that the best tactician of the Justice League and the world's greatest detective agreed with his analysis.

Batman nodded at him and Aquaman before turning around and silently walking off. Aquaman shuddered lightly and said. "I have known him for years, but he still manages to scare me as easily as he did when we first met."

Aqualad simply nodded at his King since it wasn't any different for him. But as scary and unapproachable as Batman sometimes seemed to be, he was still a respected and valuable member of the Justice League. With another clap to his shoulder, King Orin walked off towards some of the older heroes who were still discussing this new threat among themselves.

As soon as Orin had walked off, he saw Tigress push herself off the wall and walk towards him. His eyes didn't miss how she pocketed a little device that he had seen her using before. It was a listening device, which meant she had heard everything he had said to his King and Batman. When she arrived, she didn't even try to hide what she had done. "So you've analyzed our opponent, what is **your** recommendation?" Artemis bluntly asked him, her eyes staring at him with uncomfortable intensity.

"I will voice my opinion once the briefing has started. Until then, you can use the time and explain your behaviour from the last few weeks to me. Nightwing's reports were **very** thorough, and I am not blind either." Aqualad answered calmly, since he too had seen the heightened violence in Artemis` actions, and just like Nightwing, he was also very concerned.

Artemis clenched her teeth in response and hissed. "What do you think is the reason, huh? Or did you already forget what happened?"

Kaldur`s eyes darkened at the insinuation and he answered her in a quiet tone which carried a barely audible warning in it. "I know you are hurting Artemis, but never think even for a moment that you are the only one who misses Wally. The rest of the team were perhaps not as close to him as you, but that doesn't mean that we don't grieve for his death. Just ask Nightwing if you don't believe me, since he knew Wally for years before you even met him, and was his best friend."

Kaldur turned his back to her and marched off, where to she didn't know, nor care as her mind was filled with many conflicting thoughts. What she did know that he was right, even if she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her shaken by his words as she too wandered off. To where, she couldn't say either, only that she needed to get out of the hall before she did something stupid. Like hit Kaldur in the face for instance.

Kaldur meanwhile found himself in the infirmary, and saw M'gann was still unconscious, while Conner was only just coming around. The bandages around his chest and lower abdomen he was in the process of removing, much to Martian Manhunter's chagrin. "Please Conner, you must rest." The martian began, but Superboy was already getting to his feet.

"I'll rest when I'm dead." Conner shot back as he pulled up a nearby chair and sat down by M'gann's side. The concerned look in his blue eyes was easy to read a mile away as he gently entwined his fingers around her limp hand. "Is she…."

"As far as I can tell, she is merely sleeping. Whatever attacked her when she tried to telepathically link with these...creatures seems to have left no permanent damage behind." J'onn explained, much to Conner's immense relief. "However, I would still strongly advised that you remain in bed Conner. You suffered considerable damage under the magical assault you took in place of my niece." While he greatly appreciated Superboy's willingness to protect her, J'onn still cared a great deal for the rest of the team as well, of which Conner was an integral part of.

"I already said I'd rest when I'm dead. Besides, I heal fast, especially since we're in space and the yellow solar radiation is much more intense up here than on the planet." Despite his harsh tone, Conner nodded his appreciation for the martian's concern for his well being before turning his head to look over at Kaldur. "Kaldur. When'd you get back?"

"A little over an hour ago. Queen Mera wanted me to thank you and the team for their assistance before I sent you ahead to assist Nightwing at Arkham." He turned to J'onn next, his small smile disappearing as his gray gaze fell on the distant isolation cell at the other end of the infirmary. "How is Nightwing?"

"His condition is slowly deteriorating. I do not know what it is that he caught from that beast's blood, the tests are still running. All I can say is that it is slowly mutating him, much as it did the cockroaches we exposed to this….pathogen. I do however believe that the more complex the lifeform exposed, the longer it takes for them to change. Into what, I cannot begin to guess." J'onn informed them solemnly, not wishing to cause them further distress but also seeing no point in lying to them. "Doctor Fate did however suggest that there is an...underlying mystic presence, which suggests it is not solely biological."

"Which means that most of our medicines will not affect it." Kaldur stated before he clenched his right hand into a tight fist. "What have we stumbled upon now? Could this perhaps be another scheme perpetrated by the Light?" Even as the words left his mouth, the Atlantean didn't feel certain that was the case. Something about this didn't seem like something they'd risk unleashing on the world since they lived on it. Lex Luthor himself had once said that they only wanted to control Earth, not destroy it, to bring their world into the center of the galaxy as the dominant power of the cosmos. This plague didn't seem like their modus operandi, unless their goals had changed since last month, which he doubted.

"It is possible, but I do not think so. This pathogen seems too… unstable, uncontrollable for them to use. If they did use it, then they had no way of stopping the infection once it started." Martian Manhunter answered the younger hero with a shake of his head.

"Which leaves us with more questions than answers." Conner growled before he sighed heavily and looked to the ground at his feet.

"We will find the answers, one way or the other Conner. There's always a way." Kaldur said, reassuring his friend. He truly believed this, and besides, he wasn't about to lie to his team, to give them false hope. They hadn't nominated him as their leader when they had first formed the covert ops team all those years ago for him to fail them now. Though he was concerned, three members of the original team, counting Nightwing were out of commission and Wally was dead. To the seasoned Atlantean, it felt like the centre was crumbling.

"I'd be more concerned with what's driving the monsters beneath Arkham." All eyes fell on M'gann as she slowly propped herself up, her free hand pressed against her forehead as she tried to clear her mind. "The storm has only just begun. What we saw….it was only the start."

"What do you mean M'gann?" J'onn asked, having a bad feeling what she had seen wasn't going to be good news. His unspoken concern was shared by everyone within earshot as Conner's hand tightened around the young martian's.

She began slowly, hesitantly. The memory was still very fresh, and it had shaken her to her core. "When I was inside their minds, I-I felt something old. It felt like I was being dragged under the countless numbers it commanded. It saw me, overpowered me without much effort, and I felt like I was drowning before Conner pulled me back." It was here that she opened her brown eyes and stared at the others intensely. "For a brief moment I could see what it saw, feel what it felt, thousands of minds all connected, all awaiting the commands of their leader, their **god**. I'm certain it was this thing I was connected with. Most of them weren't in this world either, but somewhere else, beyond something called an Eluvian. That's all I was able to get before it got to be too much."

"It's a lot more than what we had a moment ago Miss Martian." Kaldur stated before he took a step closer to the pair. "Do you have any idea what an Eluvian could be? Why they are doing this?"

"I didn't get much more than a brief flash, something that looked like a doorway, maybe a stable portal." Once again, M'gann's hand pressed against her forehead as she closed her eyes, and focused her thoughts inward in an effort to sort out the jumble of images and sensations that she had collected. "It was confusing, disorienting, so I can't be sure. As for what they want….I don't know, I only got flashes of things I have never seen before, and I don't know how to connect them. Something about a Black City, maybe where they came from. If I can sort out the images, the feelings, I might be able to provide more intel, but that's all I know at the moment." She sighed, opened her brown eyes, and looked at her hand that was still entangled with Conner's, drawing strength from the contact. "I'm sorry I couldn't be more help."

"Do not be so hard on yourself M'gann. You did all that you could." J'onn stated and put a hand on the young girl's shoulder, a soft smile on his face.

"Agreed. As Dick once said, new questions keep the investigation going. We'll look into this Black City and the portal you mentioned. Maybe Doctor Fate or Zatanna will know something. I doubt that their portal is technological in nature." Kaldur rubbed his chin in thought as he tried to process what M'gann had told them. "If you're able to attend M'gann, come down to the meeting hall in the next half hour. Your input will be invaluable in the long term, even if it only leads to more questions than answers."

"Alright." She paused then, and looked to her right, where Nightwing was still isolated. "How is he?" She said at last.

"Not good, which makes our search for answers all the more dire. While he is physically stable for the moment, it is only a matter of time before his situation deteriorates. However, we haven't observed any mental changes like we did with the cockroaches."

"Yet." Conner commented quietly. There was no reason to assume that whatever had changed the roaches wouldn't affect Dick in the same manner. Even he understood that a virus didn't differentiate in its attack pattern just because you were a different species, but he didn't want to upset M'gann further by saying so aloud.

"Cockroaches?" M'gann asked, confused, before she looked from one person to the other.

"Long story." Conner said simply before he softly squeezed her hand.

"We have time." M'gann cheerfully replied, a twinkle in her eyes that had the super clone smiling.

"I'll leave you two to it. I need to talk to Zatanna before the briefing." A subtle look passed between J'onn and himself before Kaldur walked away to find their sorceress supreme. He hoped she had left her mystic trance by now, that she was able to tell him what she had experienced down in those tunnels. Every scrap of information would help their cause in the long run.

He heard Martian Manhunter telling the couple his own excuse. "I also have… things to discuss with other League members. I will see you later M`gann."

Kaldur continued his way to Zatanna's room, and was a little surprised to see Doctor Fate leaving said room. The gold armored Lord of Order nodded his head to Kaldur but said nothing as he made his way down the hall. He had worn the Helmet of Fate, albeit briefly, and knew Nabu better than most. Kaldur had a grudging respect for the Lord of Order, for keeping the balance between Order and Chaos, but his need for a host body was not something the Atlantean condoned. While the one who put on the Helmet knew what they were getting into, ultimately, Nabu called the shots after the Helmet was put on, making it impossible to remove the helmet once it was on unless the spirit inside the powerful artifact allowed it. The only way Nabu would release Giovanni Zatara now, is if he died in the line of duty. Kaldur sincerely hoped that wasn't what was required for Zatanna to see her father again, but the chances of it being any other way were slim if Nabu had his way.

The Atlantean was pulled from his thoughts when he felt a hand fall on his shoulder, and turned and saw Zatanna standing in the doorway. "He...was worried about me." She explained when she saw his unspoken question. "Say what you want about Nabu, my father's still in there, somewhere."

"Indeed." Aqualad answered seriously before he moved the conversation away from such a sensitive topic. "I wanted to check up on you too, and ask you if you could give us any new insights about this threat at the briefing. About the more mystical side."

"I'll do what I can Kaldur, but there isn't much I can tell you since I'm still trying to check my sources. If you want to help me look through the books I have in here, knock yourself out, but the most I can tell you is that their magic was….wrong." She ran a hand through her long raven locks and sighed as she stepped aside, allowing Kaldur into her private quarters. Books lined one wall while arcane items from all over the world lined another. "The best example I can think of is Klarion's chaos magic, except this felt...darker, somehow. Less chaos and more evil intent. That and the spells they threw at my shield were especially draining, like they were reaching directly for me and not just chipping away at my defenses. It was...scary."

"I see, however Miss Martian provided us with some intel. She mentioned that these creatures apparently use some portal shaped like a doorway to get here. She called it an Eluvian. And something about a black city, does any of that sound familiar?" Kaldur asked her in his calm and patient fashion.

Zatanna perked up immediately as she looked towards her bookshelf and shot over to the other side of the room. "Black city, black city. I know I just saw that mentioned somewhere." She muttered, more to herself than anything as she tried to remember which book she had read the passage from as she swept her light blue eyes over her shelf before hesitantly reaching out for one of the books on her shelf.

While Kaldur trusted Zatanna, he hoped that she didn't confuse the desired information with a fantasy novel, though the Lord of the Rings book on her nightstand didn't exactly inspire confidence. "Are you sure you-"

"Found it." Zatanna said as she held up a thick, leather bound volume which she promptly deposited on a nearby table before flipping to the table of contents. "You know there are other worlds, other planes of existence besides this one Kaldur, unless they didn't cover that concept in the Atlantean Conservatory of Sorcery."

"They did, but that wasn't my primary focus. Others found it far more interesting than I." Kaldur admitted, even as a wistful glaze appeared in his eyes as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Tula?" Zatanna hesitantly asked, and the Atlantean only nodded as she flipped to the appropriate page. Tula, another Atlantean that Kaldur had had feelings for once upon a time, had given her life, in much the same way that Wally had. She had used all of her considerable power to stop a summoning of a creature powerful enough to cover the world in a great flood, thus wiping out life as they knew it.

Sweeping her eyes over the page, Zatanna cleared her throat, bringing Kaldur back to the present before going over what the passage said. "It's less information than I had hoped for, but it's better than nothing. Apparently this black city is in some kind of non physical realm that is only inhabited by demons and spirits. Aside from that, it's only stated that you can see the Black City regardless of your position in this realm, there's no way into it that has been discovered. It is also unknown if this world is bonded to another and if it is, which one."

"What about the portal? Is there any mention about a doorway or portal?" He asked, and wasn't all that surprised when Zatanna shook her head.

"No, but I can keep looking. Without more to go on though, I don't think I'll be able to find anything before the briefing." Zatanna told him honestly, her hands subconsciously clutching the book tighter.

"Alright. Focus on the city. Maybe you'll get lucky and find the world it's connected to, if it **is** connected to one. Though I am curious, why do you even think that it is connected." Aqualad asked her a little confused, since he saw no reason as to why anything should have to be connected to any realm.

"This realm often changes appearances, and it always seems to depict something from the physical world. The world itself is shapeless, aside from the Black City, while the rest is formed by the demons and good spirits, but from where and how they get these reflections, I have no idea." Zatanna explained and took a shuddering breath. "I guess I better keep looking. Maybe I'll find something that can at least help Nightwing."

Kaldur reached out and gently squeezed the sorceress's shoulder as he focused his gaze on her face. "We **will** get through this Zatanna."

"I hope so Kaldur." Though even while she said so, she averted her eyes and crossed her arms. A clear sign that she wanted to be alone for now.

He only nodded his head, and shut the door behind him on his way out. She alone had given him much to think about. While he was proficient in the Atlantean school of combat sorcery, a combination of technology and magic that enabled him to manipulate water and electricity to fight his enemies, Zatanna was a true sorceress, and thus, she was far more intune with the mystical world than he could ever be. He hoped that connection would help them figure just what they were dealing with if all other methods proved inadequate.

**Main assembly hall, the Watchtower**

**August 20th, 2016**

**12;09 AM**

The entire team, plus every available League member, were assembled in the main hall. Everyone, from the Arrow Team that numbered the clone Roy Harper to the founder Oliver Queen, to the armor covered Hawks, Wonder Woman and her own protege, the Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Jon Stewart, and far more were there. Batman stood at the bend of the table, the de facto leader even though the Justice League had no official leadership structure. Everyone in the Watchtower had a voice, had skills that no one else possessed, and they worked together in common cause. Where they were strong alone, they were far more formidable together, and today, that solidarity would be needed more than ever if their suspected fears became reality.

Batman, the Dark Knight, the man that stalked Gotham's streets as one of the first vigilantes to rise in an effort to stem the tide of chaos that had threatened his home, was the first to speak, silencing the rest of the hall with his mere presence. This silence however, was born of hard won respect and unparalleled trust in most cases, because while the vast majority of the League and the covert team were comprised of super powered beings, he, Richard Grayson, Barbara Gordon, and Tim Drake had no powers whatsoever. Yet they had managed to stand toe to toe against beings that their super powered colleagues had had trouble with.

All that was in the past however. There was another invasion force, one that had arrived from beneath the surface of Gotham rather than beyond their stars, and they needed to devise a proper plan of action against these bestial brutes. Not only that, but they needed to deal with the new plague these monsters had apparently brought with them.

"What do we know for certain?" Batman asked as he turned his cowled gaze to Kaldur and his team mates, the same people that had first encountered the new threat.

M'gann chose to lead the discussion at Kaldur's silent prompting. "We know they're hostile. They are capable of coordinated assault, unless their chain of command is disrupted. Even then, they give way to their primal nature before the idea of surrender even enters their thoughts. They can't be reasoned with by all appearances." She paused though, but Conner's hand on the middle of her back gave her enough of a push to continue what she had learned. "I tried to link with them, to understand what they wanted, why they were here, but I was quickly overwhelmed. They are led by something that acts as a unifying force, leading its horde through a hive mind collective consciousness. The enemies we've faced are like bees, working together towards their goals."

"And what is that?" Batman asked, having a feeling he knew the answer as he pulled up a video recording from his son's wrist mounted computer, having pulled the data drive from Nightwing's uniform while he was being checked over by Martian Manhunter. The video showed just how ruthlessly efficient these creatures were from his son's perspective. What they saw only hardened his opinion of this latest threat to the world.

"I'm not sure, but from the sheer amount of rage I sensed before I was pulled under, it'd be safe to guess that they aren't interested in peaceful coexistence." M'gann replied, her tone calm even while her insides were twisted into knots. Not even Psimon terrified her as much as the monsters she had foolishly linked with. The psychic enforcer, while unquestionably evil in his intent, still had some measure of humanity.

"Then there's the new plague we've discovered about the same time. That **can't** be a coincidence." Artemis stated from beside Kaldur and Conner, her arms crossed over her bronzed color breastplate while her mask remained on her belt. Everyone knew who she was by now, there was no need to keep her identity a secret here.

"It's a mutagenic plague, although into what someone exposed to it will transform into seems to depend on their genetic disposition. The few tests we've run so far suggests that the more complex the lifeform, the longer it takes to convert them, provided it doesn't kill them first. Only the strong seem to survive the pain of being forcibly transformed by this plague."

"As for how it's spread….we think it's passed through the creatures' blood. Nightwing didn't start getting sick until after he took a mouthful by accident during our first engagement." Artemis said quietly as she looked away.

"It's an even greater threat than that. This virus has mystical components, which mean that it can infect anyone." Batman said gravelly and looked at everyone to make sure that they understood the ramifications. Only the few non corporal members, like Captain Atom, or non living members of the League, like their android heavy hitter Red Tornado, would be completely immune to the plague. Atom was completely comprised of energy, while Red was a sentient machine. Everyone else was a different matter. "We have no means to cure the plague, yet, but if you become exposed, come back to the Watchtower and we'll do what we can to slow it down until we find a viable way to neutralize it." The entire League nodded somberly at the news, not about to take a chance with this. No one wanted to imagine one of their close friends transformed into some kind of mindless creature. After letting that circulate among them for a moment, Batman turned to Zatanna and Doctor Fate. "Do we have any idea where they came from?"

"Thanks to Zatanna, we know that they are connected to an incorporeal realm. The only thing we know for certain is that there is a place called the Black City within this realm that is always within sight of those who visit this place, but there was little more other than the realm is inhabited by demons and spirits."

"Actually Kaldur, I found a little more after you left." Zatanna stated, drawing everyone's gaze on her as she stood to her feet before waving her hand across the control console in front of her. The holographic interface activated, and the viewscreen behind Batman changed from the video he had been showing the League, to a page from book that Zatanna had scanned for future reference. The script was almost illegible, but it was clear enough that everyone present could read it for themselves. "It's a partial transcript from something called the Chant of Light. The author doesn't mention how he got his hands on this much, but it and the following passage explains a little more of where they at least originated from."

_Those who had sought to claim Heaven by violence destroyed it._

_What was Golden and pure turned black._

_Those who had once been mage-lords,_

_The brightest of their age,_

_Were no longer men, but monsters_.

If the passage wasn't clear enough, the page itself changed before their eyes, showing several of the mentioned mage-lords becoming covered in darkness before being horrifically changed. In the background, the once beautiful city that had also been mentioned decayed and transformed as well, becoming corrupted much like the mages had.

"I'm gonna take a guess here and say this Golden City is now the Black City." The Flash, Barry Allen to his friends, said as he crossed his arms and regarded the page Zatanna had put up on the main screen. "Whether this is literal or religious based, it's somethin' to ponder at least."

"Doh! Come on grandpa, keep up!" Impulse, future grandson Bart Allen, grinned as he literally disappeared from sight before appearing by Zatanna's side a split second later, a powerful gust of wind following in his wake. "Black City, Golden City, does it matter where these things came from? We need to seriously crash their mode, then we can worry about the rest."

"He's right." Impulse was stunned into silence when Batman agreed with him. "While their origins might give us clues on how to deal with them, our main concern now should be in checking their advance. That's why we need to treat this as a hostile invasion. We cannot allow these things to spread. Stop them by any means."

"By any means? Or by any means that will have Nightwing back on his feet?" Superman asked, his tone suggesting that they were not one and the same thing. He held up a hand before Batman could try and argue with the kryptonian. "I'm not saying that we shouldn't push these things back with everything we have if they are as dangerous as they apparently are. I'm only saying that you're….too close to this one Batman."

"My judgment might be in question, but my intentions aren't Superman. While I am concerned by whatever has found its way into Nightwing, our first priority is the protection of Earth and her neighbors. From what we've seen so far, I am convinced that this is an invasion from a hostile entity, whose only concern is conquest." Only those with superhuman hearing could hear the slightest tremor in Bruce Wayne's voice as the otherwise cold as ice hero stood to his feet and looked at each and every one of them in turn. "If this threat is as great as we fear, we might have to consider extreme measures to stop it from getting out of hand."

"If these things are so similar to Parademons as we think, then I think we should employ the same means against them that our reality neighbors did." Flash said reluctantly, surprising everyone with his uncharacteristic seriousness. "Besides, didnt you kill Doomsday to save everyone else Supes?"

"He won't stay dead….but yes." Superman admitted, much to his great personal shame. It was no secret that violence was not something he partook in lightly, but Doomsday was one of the rare exceptions to his rule to try and find a non violent solution. The monster was too wild and bestial to be reasoned with, and was only interested in destroying everything in his path. The problem was that no matter how many times he fell, Doomsday always returned, stronger than his last incarnation. Last time, Superman had thrown the beaten and battered creature into the sun where he had hopefully been completely disintegrated and melted down to his subatomic parts. Unfortunately, that wouldn't work next time, if there was a next time. He honestly hoped there wasn't, but Superman wasn't about to hold his breath.

Pushing those dark thoughts to the back of his mind, the Smallville raised superhero sighed as he turned to his fellow heroes. "While I don't agree with what Flash proposed, I understand why you'd think it's necessary. But our first priority should always be the safety of any civilians that get caught in the crossfire first and foremost."

"No argument here." John Stewart replied, and crossed his arms over his chest as his partner nodded his head. "The Guardians might send us reinforcements if we need them, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that. The Lanterns have an entire galaxy to protect after all."

The Green Lantern Corps were the galactic scale version of the League. While they had partnered together in the past, the Corps outnumbered the League by thousands of members across the known galaxy, and they were largely respected by the citizens they protected as the ring bearers of the light of Will. Due to Vandal Savage's manipulation, despite charges having been dropped quite recently, the League were still considered outlaws across several planets.

Hal shrugged and waved his hand dismissively. "Meh, I think you're making this more than it is personally. Sure they're big and scary and they bring a plague with 'em, but how bad could they really be if they're still using rusty swords?"

"This coming from the guy who can't find his ring after going to the bathroom." John muttered under his breath, loud enough for his seat mates to hear him.

"That was one time!" Hal shot back, his cheeks flushed in embarrassment as the memory played back behind his masked face. " _Someone_ I won't name here thought it'd be funny to hide it." His gaze settled on Captain Marvel as he finished his comment.

"Hey don't look at me, I was at home with my Uncle Dudley." The only hero among them that was a child under his superhero guise, retorted in his defense. "You can even ask."

"Maybe I will kid." Hal shot back, tempted to fly off and do exactly that despite the dire situation brewing on the planet below.

"Enough!" Batman shouted, silencing the hall once again. "We have more important matters to discuss!" He growled out, and glared at both of them for their lack of focus. He wondered, and not for the first time, why he allowed some of the League members to stay when they acted like children, not that he had room to talk since he had indoctrinated three kids into the life of crime fighting. And all of them were on the covert ops team headed by Nightwing and Kaldur'ahm.

"Indeed." Wonder Woman finally spoke up. "Our world is in jeopardy, and we let ourselves become distracted by petty arguments. We must return to the matter at hand."

"Then what do you propose Wonder Woman?" Black Canary asked, almost as calm as Kaldur normally presented himself, giving ground to the Amazonian princess. Considering she was the League's certified psychologist, that wasn't all that surprising.

"We take the battle to them, go straight into the heart of their base and destroy the portal they came from." She stated matter of factly, as if it were the most obvious answer to their problem.

"Typical amazonian mindset." Hawkgirl muttered under her breath, earning her an elbow to her side from her husband for her rude comment.

"It has its merits, but we don't know where the portal is, or if it can be shut down without destroying everything around it." Black Canary replied thoughtfully, even as she partially agreed with Wonder Woman's proposal.

"So we need to find the portal, tag it with a tracer so we know where it is in case it is moved, and find a way to shut it down, or use it to take the fight to these creatures so they cannot attack us further." Kaldur rubbed at his chin as every eye fell on him and his team. "Is this not why you kept this team together Batman? The Justice League can create a distraction while we sneak behind enemy lines to try and locate the source of this invasion. If we cannot shut their portal down, we will try and find another way to stop this enemy from spreading beyond Gotham City. This is what we have trained for after all."

"I agree." Batman was the first to take a sharp intake of breath as Nightwing walked towards the table, apparently fine even as J'onn J'onzz tried to usher him back to the infirmary. He gently shook off the worried martian before walking to stand at Kaldur's side. "We can't just sit here and do nothing. And if this plague is as dangerous as we believe, then I'm living on borrowed time. I'd rather use what I have to do something worthwhile than be confined to a bed."

The silent exchange that took place between Kaldur and Batman didn't go unnoticed by Richard, but he said nothing as he looked to his dad. The mission might always come first to Bruce when the safety of the world was at stake, but when it came to his family, even the Dark Knight yielded to his desire to protect his family at any cost. For that, Richard was immensely proud and grateful to call the man his father, even if the thing Bruce kept inside him scared, rather terrified him, and made him question what Bruce was willing to sacrifice to see Earth protected. Even though that same instinct had found its way into Nightwing's subconscious, albeit to a lesser extent, Richard was still glad to have become a part of Bruce's family for far more than his aid in bringing down the men that had murdered his biological family.

Before another word could be said, an alert programmed into the Watchtower's computer core had everyone gazing at a live news feed. It became quickly apparent that trouble was stirring in Gotham City. "This is Iris West, reporting live from Wayne Tower!" Barry was on his feet in a heartbeat, but a look from Batman and a comforting hand on his shoulder from one of his fellow Leaguers stopped the man from running to the nearest zeta platform. While Iris continued talking, her camera man panned his towards one of the large windows, away from the charity ball that they had been covering earlier. The reason for Iris's panic became obvious when they saw what was happening in the streets below.

Cars were burning, people were fleeing in terror even as Red Tornado and several Leaguers that hadn't been in the Watchtower but had been listening to what was being said via their commlinks, did their best to hold back the encroaching horde. While they held them back, it was only a matter of time before the League members already in Gotham were overrun if their enemies didn't relent as more and more of the monsters pushed their way out of the sewers at seemingly every intersection. The few people they weren't able to save were either dragged down into the dark by more of the creatures, or were killed there in the street, butchered like animals as sword and claw made short work of those too weak to defend themselves.

"As you can see, the League is doing all they can to evacuate as many people out of danger as they can, but whatever has risen out of the sewers seems to have no intention of slowing their advance as more and more crawl out of the tunnels below despite heavy losses on their side." It was then that Red Tornado took a powerful lightning blast to the center of his chest, short circuiting the powerful android before he fell to the ground in a heap, the tornado he had been generating that had allowed him his flight disappearing about the same time. Icon, Guardian, and the rest were there to pick up the slack as the 'real' Roy Harper, the once named Speedy, now known as Arsenal, covered their retreat while Icon and Guardian dragged the damaged synthetic between them.

Arsenal lived up to his name as his cybernetic arm opened up and revealed the Lexcorp industrial laser contained within, which he used to lay waste to the creatures in front, slicing them in two wherever the red beam touched them. "Go! I got this!" Roy shouted before pulling one of his stolen Reach staff weapons from his back. "Let's dance." The archer said in challenge before he charged into the leading monsters, firing with every step.

Batman had seen enough by then, and turned to address those that had gathered, only to find most of them were already in the process of gathering their equipment as they scattered across the Watchtower. Most of them made a beeline for the armory or their living quarters, while those like Hal Jordan, who carried all they needed or were born with superhuman abilities, simply went for the zeta beam platforms at the other end of the hall. He was unsurprised that Conner, M'gann, Kaldur, Richard, Jaime, and the rest of the covert ops team were among the number beaming down to Gotham.

"Race you to Wayne Tower!" Impulse cheerfully called over his shoulder before disappearing in the bright flash of the zeta beam transporting him and several others to the city the next instant.

"See you in Gotham." Kaldur stated, calm as ever before he too disappeared with M'gann, Conner, and several more.

That left Richard and a handful of Leaguers that were only then returning to the hall before making their way to the platforms as well. Bruce had other ideas however as he stopped before his son and put a hand on his shoulder. Richard didn't let him say a word though before he spoke up first. "I know what you're going to say, but I can't just sit back and do nothing."

"I know Richard." Bruce replied, before pulling the young man into a one arm hug, which surprised Dick more than a little until he felt the dart pierce the side of his neck. Dick was asleep on his feet long before he knew what had happened. "That's why I can't let you go, not like this." He whispered before turning to Wonder Woman and Black Canary, who were the few that had seen Batman sedate one of his own children.

Before he could defend his actions, Dinah spoke first. "You don't have to explain yourself to us Bruce. He's your son, and no matter how you try to hide it, you love him and the rest of your family deeply. You'd be willing to do almost anything to protect them."

"That does beg the question, what do you plan to do now?" Diana asked quietly while she finished tying her lasso to her belt. Cassie had already gone ahead with the rest of the team, and while she trusted in Wonder Girl's ability to stand on her own, she hoped that whatever Batman had planned for Richard wouldn't take too long. For all of her discipline and control, she was an amazonian, and there was a clear enemy on the field waiting to be defeated.

Batman looked to the two women as he slung the unconscious Nightwing over his shoulder before going to the nearest zeta platform. "I plan to talk to Victor Fries. His understanding of cryo technology will hopefully slow down the infection long enough for us to find a cure."

"And if he doesn't want to talk?" Wonder Woman asked, her disdain for this idea easily heard in her voice.

"Then I'll make him listen." Batman retorted sharply, before he finished inputting Mister Freeze's last known coordinates into the computer before he waited for the platform to take him down.

_**End Notes;**_ _One thing I never liked about Young Justice was how they portrayed the titular ice villain Mr. Freeze. His 'family' I liked, Icicle Jr and Killer Frost especially, but as for Fries himself? Not so much. To me, he was always the man willing to do anything for his wife, Nora, who was struck down by a disease which Victor has since dedicated his every waking moment to finding a cure for. At any rate, I hope you guys enjoy and I'll see ya next time. Adios and fave, review, and follow lol._


	3. A Cold Reception

**Opening Notes;** _I want to give a shout out to_ _ **Nomand-117**_ _for his considerable contribution to this particular chapter. Most of the opening section, as well as a good chunk of the battle in Gotham's streets, was his. At any rate, enjoy folks!_

**Episode 3; A Cold Reception**

**Alaska, Abandoned Oil Platform**

**August 20th, 2016**

**12;18 AM**

Batman emerged from the zeta beam platform, Nightwing still slung over his shoulder, and after a brief observation of his surroundings, he began to make his way towards an abandoned building that he knew served as Dr. Victor Fries aka ´s, current hideout. He had various reasons for not coming here sooner, such as having to deal with other Arkham escapees, the Joker just to name one of many. Another fact was that despite all their previous battles Freeze was far from being unreasonable.

Every action he took was calculated, with the goal of rescuing his frozen wife Nora Fries, who suffered from a terminal disease and who would remain frozen until her husband could find a way to cure her. Batman respected such dedication to one's family, in fact he shared this ideal with his adversary. It was probably one of the few reasons why they were able to work together, no matter how briefly such a partnership lasted, in the past.

He counted on this quality that they shared in the hope that Freeze would help him to cure Nightwing. Even if it meant freezing his son in all but blood temporarily. He wouldn't give up on his family no matter what. With this in mind he simply pushed the door that led into a long deserted hallway open.

Freeze would now undoubtedly know of his coming, as he intended, it was his way of showing the cryogenic villain that he was not here to fight him. He cautiously continued forward however. Just because he had announced himself didn't mean that Freeze wouldn't attack him. Their last meeting hadn´t been on friendly terms to say the least, but he was reasonably certain that Freeze wouldn't attack him outright, at least not by lethal means. In his head he went through several scenarios to keep Nightwing safe while he battled the icy villain, though none of them would work if Freeze really would want to hurt his son. But he had no other choice so he marched onward, towards a confrontation that would happen one way or another.

He reached the door to the basement without trouble and walked down into the darkness, knowing that Victor would hide beneath the building in case of any curious 'visitors' that may decide to drop by. At the end of the steps was a heavy steel door that was secured by an electronic lock, no doubt of Freeze´s own design, and above the door he could make out the shape of a small camera.

"Open the door, Victor. You know why I'm here." Batman declared gravely, his gaze impassive and hiding the inner turmoil that raged within his mind. Despite all his apparent calmness he was prepared to simply blow up every obstacle between him and the brilliant scientist whose aid he sought, if necessary. On his shoulder the prone form of his son groaned in his sleep, unknowingly urging him to hurry.

After several seconds of agonizing silence the door unlocked and swung open. He stepped through and was unsurprised to hear the door behind him close again. After a short moment he heard the lock snap back into place. In front of him was another hallway, although this one was much better maintained than its counterpart above.

On the walls he could see the glittering of ice crystals. If there had been any doubt before, it was gone now. He walked down the hallway, with each step the air seeming to grow colder. Something that he had expected since Freeze´s body could only survive in subzero temperatures, and he couldn't wear his body armor the whole time. Although there was no doubt in Batman's mind that Freeze would be prepared when he confronted him.

At last he stood before the last door between him and one of his most dangerous opponents. He opened it and stepped through without a hint of hesitation. He took in the room in a split second before he focused his undivided attention on Freeze who stood in the centre of the room, and was as predicted clad in his high-tech armor. Everything was covered in ice and at the far end of the room, he could see the cryogenic container that held Nora herself, frozen in time and body.

"What do you want Batman?" asked with more than a hint of hostility, his freeze gun aimed in his direction but not directly at him. Though Bruce knew that this could change in a moment's notice. For a man of his considerable size and stature, Victor was fast and very accurate with his preferred weapon.

"We have to talk Victor." Batman answered solemnly, his eyes narrowing behind his mask. Freeze would help him, one way or another.

"What do you want from me, Batman? I am certain it is related to your young companion that you brought with you." Freeze said, this time with more curiosity than hostility as he lowered his gun ever so slowly.

"I'm sure that you're aware of the recent chaos that is currently spreading through the streets of Gotham. As far as we're aware, it's caused by a species from another plane of existence. They seem to spread a magic based mutagenic virus-"

"So you came to me, in hopes that I would help you to rescue your protege, or at least put him in a cryogenic slumber like my wife." Freeze quickly deduced, before his expression hardened and he asked. "Tell me Batman, why should I do that for you?"

"Victor, I know that despite all our battles, you are not blinded by hate for me. But if you require a reason, Nora was more than once 'removed' from your care, and the perpetrators forced you to work for them in exchange for her continued survival. And every time I brought her back to you. You _owe_ me, and now, it´s time to pay up." Batman growled, one hand supporting his son while the other was clenched into a fist.

Freeze regarded him for a moment before he nodded. "Then let's not waste anymore time."

**Gotham City, Connecticut**

**August 20th, 2016**

**12;32 AM**

To say that chaos reigned in the streets of Gotham would have been a colossal understatement. The creatures that had appeared so suddenly roamed the streets, filling the air with arrows and magical projectiles, trying to escape the sudden onslaught were panicking civilians, who did their best to escape this new enemy that had so suddenly appeared. The police had long since been deployed and the officers tried their best to protect as many people as possible and push the creatures back. Unfortunately the local gangs decided to join the fight, either to protect their territory or in the hopes of expanding theirs in the chaos.

They shot at everything that they perceived as a threat, the police, the creatures, members of other gangs, and more than once civilians got caught in the crossfire. This was the situation the team found themselves in when they arrived at Gotham. Of course their arrival only added to the chaos, and the fighting was even more than a nightmare than expected, due to the many abandoned cars that littered the streets. And every car could serve as a hiding place for creature or man, and various attacks of all kinds had set many vehicles ablaze.

Even with the arrival of the League and their proteges, the tide was slow to change. Impulse thought he had seen death and destruction on a massive scale before, but this was different. The Reach and their Beetle Warriors had been his future's masters, but even they hadn't needlessly slaughtered everything in their path. The world he had left behind had been in ruins sure, but this was different. Running through the crowds at top speed, Impulse and his uncle Barry did their best to keep the monsters from forming ranks as they kept the horde off balanced with hit and run tactics at near light speed. "Just what are these guys gramps?!"

"Don't know kid, but we can't let them keep running havoc. We need to keep them off balance as much as possible." Flash countered as he and Impulse slammed into the front ranks again and again, their speed keeping them twenty steps ahead of any counter attack the monsters could hope to put together as arrows and spells were thrown in their general direction.

Though he saw that not everyone was killed, some of the captured civilians were dragged underground. With a shudder he thought that these were the unlucky ones. For whatever purpose these things had kept them alive, it was certainly nothing good. The greatest threats were the giant horned brutes, but Superman and Superboy were more than up for the task against the heavy hitters. "Triple combo!" Conner jumped into the Man of Steel's hands and he was tossed into the closest of the giants, toppling the beast with a punch to the jaw that shattered more than a few of its razor sharp teeth before springing off of it to land on a second, and a third. The chaos they had sown alone broke another line of the creatures, but more kept coming.

They had learned early to avoid any hits from these creatures, the sickness which shaped their bodies had infused them with small amounts of magic, enough to keep the Kryptonians on their toes. Open wounds and blood contact was to be avoided at all costs, unless they wanted to be the next drooling ravenous beast on the field, a thought that had done more to terrify them than any enemy before as Superman let loose with controlled blasts of his heat vision. Unlike Superboy, he hoped by displaying his superiority, they'd be loath to throw themselves at him. Quite the opposite happened however as everytime he blasted the ground in front of them, they came at him all the harder.

"Hey, you really need to drop the kid gloves, Boy Scout." Arsenal sneered as he brought his laser to bear. Unlike most of his former 'friends', he wasn't squeamish about getting his hands dirty. Even so, he growled when his cybernetic arm started to flash a warning at him, letting him know that he was about out of power for the advanced prosthetic. "Have a battery I could borrow?" He joked, even as he pulled out one of his more traditional weapons from the pack on his back. Before long, the air was filled with arrows fired from his red painted longbow. Unlike Ollie and the clone's quiver full of trick arrows, Arsenal had dispensed with the non lethal ones when he had gone solo. Every shot saw another enemy dropped to the concrete, never to rise again.

His statement was punctuated when a group of SWAT officers rounded the corner and let loose with a hail of bullets that struck the nearest monsters. They still kept coming but it seemed like killing them would more likely grant success than simply knocking them out. For all their inferior technology they were not to be underestimated, a fact that was illustrated when the creatures that ambushed the officers in a nearby tunnel seemed to appear from the shadows closest to the SWAT team.

As if sensing that these were the easier targets, they focused all their attention on killing their non-powered opponents. They attacked and vanished in the shadows, and attack again from another angle, again and again. And each time they either wounded a surprised officer or dragged him off into the shadows. The attacks stopped though when Kaldur and Artemis rushed to their rescue, the Atlantean's Water Bearers primed and already shaped in the form of twin curved blades. "Glad to see you agree we can't hold back on these freaks!" Artemis shouted over the din of battle, easily keeping pace with the physically stronger water dweller.

"Focus more on the fight than who was right Tigress." Kaldur shot back, while deflecting the sword of one of the taller creatures. Its armor looked like it was made from human bones, and its face seemed to glow in sadistic pleasure. Even as his blade drove through its chest, the almost ecstatic glee never left the creature's gaze as Kaldur yanked back and turned to engage another. He felt sick to his stomach, but he was a soldier first, he understood what it meant to take life even if it rarely ever came up in his hero life.

He had simply reacted, like his instructors in Atlantis had taught him. "When you are in the heat of battle, trust your instincts." They had told him, and his instincts told him to kill these monsters. As much as he wanted to think otherwise, something deep inside told him that these creatures were never meant to have existed in the first place. They were a true abomination of nature, of life itself, and the only recourse was to send them back to whatever hole they crawled out of.

Despite her bravado, Artemis wasn't faring as well as she had made herself sound. Her life had led up to her being raised as the next Crock criminal, but she had been rescued by Oliver from the life of crime her father would have forced her into. And now she was forced to kill to defend herself and her friends? This went against everything she had tried to get away from by joining the team, by becoming a part of something truly good and noble. But when you had a monster swinging a giant battle axe at your head, you tend to forget the small things and simply fight back with everything you had. To that end, Artemis only gave the creature that now had a new hole in its neck from one of her crossbow bolts a passing look before spinning like a top, her right leg leading in a snap kick before slamming her elbow into a third's face.

"Good job baby girl, I always knew you had it in ya." Artemis gritted her teeth when an all too familiar blonde headed man stepped out of a nearby alley. She didn't waste more than a passing glance as Crusher, once known as Sportsmaster, also known as her father, Lawrence Crock, bull rushed one of the armored brutes to the ground before stomping on its neck. The sickening sound of bone crunching was drowned out by the roar of another creature, but the assassin merely smirked behind his mask. As the gold armored monster rushed him, Crusher pulled one of the many weapons he carried, revealing one of probably a dozen spears he kept on his person, and casually threw it at the charging enemy. It detonated on impact, sending it and several of its fellows to the ground. The few that were still able to fight didn't get a chance as he and Tigress took them apart. "Still holding back I see." Lawrence grunted once the fight was over.

"Thanks for the help dad, now piss off." The blonde archer growled over her shoulder before running to catch up with Kaldur.

"You can run all you like Artemis, but you'll always be a Crock." Lawrence called after her before seeking out more enemies. Today promised to be full of fun opportunities.

"Okay, remember I said these guys were going to be pushovers?!" Hal shouted as he and Jon laid waste to everything between them. Hal had brought out the big guns early as he dual wielded a pair of mini guns formed from the light of his ring, shredding everything unfortunate enough to be in front of him. "Hit me in the face next time I open my big mouth!"

"Remind me when this is over!" John shouted back before going for a more practical approach and simply sweeping a beam of emerald energy over the street, leaving a giant gouge in the concrete wherever it touched. When the smoke cleared, he had to physically drag Hal out of range of a bolt of ice that just clipped the senior Green Lantern on his right shoulder. The frigid cold left the limb heavy, unmoving, but otherwise he was fine. Even so, John made it a point to surround himself in a bubble of emerald light, ensuring any future attacks didn't get close. "Thicken your shield! We just became prime targets!"

Taking up sniper position on a distant rooftop, Oliver and the clone Roy were busy with their own fight as they rained down trick arrows on the horde below. "I'm all for shooting fish in a barrel but this is ridiculous!" Roy shouted as another creature and several of its allies were encased in quick hardening foam. He barely paid them a second glance, having already fired three more arrows into another group in the time it took the foam to expand and harden completely.

"Just keep them from getting out of hand as much as possible." Oliver replied calmly, even if he agreed with his partner's assessment. They'd run out of arrows long before they ran out of things to shoot.

"Well, it could be worse." Roy said with a shrug. He immediately regretted his words when a creature burst out of the stairwell they had used to get up to the roof of the building.

Oliver turned and looked at him like he was crazy. "Did you seriously just say that? You never say that!"

"Oh come on, it's just one guy." Roy groaned when he saw several more rushing up the stairs behind the scout they had sent ahead. " _Don't_ say a word."

From the streets, they heard someone scream. "Incoming!" And as they turned back they saw multiple fireballs flying towards the building they had taken residence on. When they impacted on multiple floors below them, the two heroes could soon feel the heat of the explosion as every window was blasted apart. Hungry flames began to eat their way through the building, and inexorably towards them. The two archers shared a look before they jumped off the roof at the same time, their next arrows loaded with grapple shots which they used as soon as they were clear to attach themselves to the building across the street. Holding on for dear life, they swung through a window and rolled to a stop in an abandoned office.

"Look at what you've done!" Oliver groused and pointed at the burning building.

"Don't blame that on me! I wasn't the one that set the building on fire!" Roy shouted back, irritated more than anything as he shook out his costume in an effort to get rid of the glass shards he could feel poking at him. "It's gonna take forever to get the smell of smoke out of this thing, again."

"And here I thought today was going to be boring." Both archers turned and drew back on their bows when an all too familiar female voice purred from the shadows. Roy mentally kicked himself when he recognized the white and red striped mask before Cheshire revealed herself. "Don't look like you're unhappy to see me Red Arrow. After all, someone needs to keep you alive."

"How'd you find us Jade?" Roy hissed through his teeth as he lowered his bow, while Oliver kept his trained on the League of Shadows assassin.

Cheshire merely shrugged and twirled one of her sai through her fingers. "The tracker I slipped in your quiver when you were babysitting our baby girl does wonders for locating you."

"Baby girl?" Green Arrow managed to choke out, his mind having trouble comprehending what he had just heard. "Is there something you want to tell me Roy?"

"At the moment? No." Roy replied simply.

"Nevermind. Let's just focus on the evil things running rampant beneath us, okay?" Green Arrow more decided than asked, nonetheless he received an answer from both of them.

"Okay." They replied simultaneously.

Meanwhile, on street level, M'gann and Beast Boy were knee deep in shriekers, as they had been nicknamed by the young shapeshifter that was currently in the form of a green furred gorilla. _You know sis, when you promised you'd take me to the city, you forgot to mention the monster problem._ Garfield joked, even as he grabbed one of the smaller ones and tossed it into a group of its friends.

 _Can we talk about this when we aren't being surrounded by murderous beasts?_ M'gann asked, her eyes bright green as she raised her hands before a wave of telekinetic force slammed into the assassin like creatures that had ambushed them when they had gone to try and assist another SWAT team. They had arrived just as the last of the officers were dragged into the sewers, only to be set upon by the same creatures that had overwhelmed them.

 _Noted._ Garfield agreed, backhanding one of the few that were left into a mailbox that had somehow survived everything else that had happened that night. _Heh, look at that. Air mail._

 _Oh Garfield._ For one of his jokes, that had been one of his more corny ones, but M'gann was glad he at least was able to smile despite everything happening around them. She knew that she would never be able to forget the screams of the people that they were unable to save. She just hoped that Garfield would, he was far too young to be burdened by such things.

Her distraction nearly cost her as Garfield screamed in their mental link before pushing her aside at the last second. M'gann recovered just in time to see one giant paw around one of the bigger creature's throat while his other hand was wrapped around his sword arm. It was only then she saw the flames that enshrouded the curved blade as it fell from the beast's limp hand from Garfield's crushing grip. _No one lays a hand on my sister!_ With that, Beast Boy lifted the monster above his head and tossed him through a car window.

The Amazons were having better luck as Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl tore into anything stupid enough to get in their way. "For Themiscyra!" The Princess of the Amazons roared, having brought along her sword and shield for this occasion, and both had already been tested against the horde and had held up as she knew they would. The gods were on their side, and from the numerous corpses around them, no one was about to argue the point. "Stay on your guard Cassie. They might be mindless beasts, but they are still formidable warriors." Diana said as she blocked a sword strike before slamming her shield into the offender's face before following that with a skilled twirl of her sword that saw the creature's head removed from its shoulders.

"Right!" Cassie called back, using the bracers on her arms to block while her fists did the rest in incapacitating anything that got too close. Her reflexes were sharp enough that arrows were harmlessly deflected with ease. Magic was another story as a lightning bolt sailed past her cheek, making her blonde hair stand on end. "Sheesh! I'm really starting to hate these guys!"

"Calm yourself and stand strong. We will prevail. Amazons don't know the meaning of the word surrender. We either break them here or die trying."

"Thanks for the pep talk." Cass said with a roll of her eyes, even if she agreed with her mentor to some degree. She didn't plan on dying today though.

Diana wanted to say more but stopped when the air around them seemed to grow colder by the second. "What's going on?!"

"That!" Cassie shouted before all but dragging Diana out of the danger zone just as a small blizzard kicked up where they had just been standing. Once they had flown clear of the area, the young warrior pointed to the source of the powerful storm that had appeared around them. With a nod shared between them, they flew past the ice spikes and arctic blasts that would have made short work of them, and boldly rushed the enemy spellcaster. They hit him with such force that almost every bone in his body was shattered when he hit the wall of a building twenty feet away.

"Is it just me or are these things getting smarter?!" Hawk Girl roared as she brought her mace to bear on one of the horned brutes. Its big head made for an ample target, and even without the nth metal belt around her waist, she was sure her mace and her considerable strength would have been enough to take the monster down without her ability to fly augmenting her strike. As it was, the creature's face became pulp as the small, sharp spikes on her weapon's head bit deep, while the energy crackling through the metal ball did further damage.

Her answer was provided when another of the horned giants picked up one of its companions, and at some hidden signal, threw the sword carrying creature with uncanny accuracy. Shayera Hol would have lost a wing if not for her husband's timely intervention as he swatted the living missile aside with a swing of his own mace. "You had to ask." He grunted in reply, a wry grin on his face despite how close that had been.

Black Canary was having better luck as she used one of the shriekers as a shield, twisting this way and that, her arm locked around one of its bladed joints, just shy of the blade itself. A kick here brought a humanoid, armored warrior down, while a quick dodge to the right and a back step made sure the following sword slash from one of its fellows cut the creature's arm off instead of her head. Her shield went down a moment later as the same sword swinger tried to hit her again, only to miss a second time as she pole vaulted over his head, forcing his sword arm out wide, striking the shrieker in the back at the same time. The moment she landed, her legs outstretched and her hand spread out before her, Dinah was on her feet in a heartbeat just as a the monster got its weapon free from its companion's back.

She didn't give him time to use it a third time as she opened her mouth wide, and put the dead shrieker to shame when she gave voice to a scream of her own. One that was powerful enough to bend and even destroy metal, and blast the monster and several of its companions off their feet as wave after wave of sonic disruption left her throat. When she was done with that group, she scanned the area for a second, not about to leave her friends to fight this battle alone.

Zatanna was busy high above the city, using her magical senses to try and locate the source of this pestilence. Her eyes glowed bright white and her raven haired danced as arcs of blue energy coalesced around her. Doctor Fate had erected a golden dome of protective energy, ensuring that nothing save a Lord of Chaos could be able to touch her as he flew down to aid his beleaguered allies in the League. At least these creatures were unable to fly, so far.

She was oblivious to everything around her though as she cast her mind out of her body, following the mystical ley lines that ran through Gotham like a spider's web. Most of them led to sources of power she was all too familiar with, but there was one, as twisted and corrupt as the monsters themselves, that she was interested in. While the vast majority of ley lines were gold, green, a few of them were even dark blue, the one she was following was pitch black. It was like staring at a river of tar, except tar didn't try to reach out and ensnare you before dragging you under.

She was careful not to touch it in any event, even in astral form in the chance it tried to attack her or something equally unpleasant, as she followed it into the sewers and beyond. "Where are you taking me?" She mused aloud, knowing no one could hear her as she continued to fly through thick layers of concrete, stone, pipes, and eventually natural stone caverns that ran through the city underground in a maze of its own.

She saw things that chilled her blood as the dark monsters herded their recently acquired captives and shoved picks and crude digging implements into their hands, making it clear what they wanted. If someone foolishly disobeyed, the offender was cut down right there before the rest of the horde fell on the remains, tearing the victim to pieces in their mad scramble to gorge themselves. She wanted to throw up, but Zatanna forced herself to continue on her journey into the abyss. They needed a destination, and she was one of the few that could find it with everyone else busy trying to save a city that in her mind, was already lost.

Still in her astral form, she continued through the tunnels, the black ley line she followed splitting up more than once. She followed it more than once into a dead end, literally as she saw the enemy sorcerers perform cruel rituals on the unfortunate souls, and knew that she could do nothing to stop them. Not yet at least.

As she followed the line and its various branches, she couldn't believe the extent of the tunnels beneath Gotham. Countless caves, some of them manmade, others left behind by nature itself, and every last one seemed to be crawling with these monsters. She didn't know how long she had looked for the source of all of this, how many horrors she was forced to witness as these things continued to defile everything they laid hands on, but eventually she felt a sudden surge of magical power.

One of the black lines seemed to pulse for a moment with pure all encompassing darkness before it was once again indistinguishable from those around it. With narrowed eyes, she followed this one, the sound of armored feet echoing through the tunnels in front of her. Even though her rational mind knew that these creatures couldn't see or feel her, she crouched down and tip toed towards whatever had cause this magical impulse.

Zatanna had seen a lot in her time with the team and the League, but she never would have expected a huge cavern beneath what she guessed was the Arkham Asylum. In the centre of the room was a huge mirror like object, but the surface which was usually used to reflect showed many places, always changing sometimes it was just another cave, sometimes a grand hall, a forest, than a cave again.

At its feet were more people, but there was something different about them. Then it hit her. Homeless, the forgotten of every major city on Earth, had been the first victims of this plague. With a start Zatanna realized that these things had been here longer than they thought. They had probably been abducted people long before the League ever heard of them. The first casualties in a city of millions, and no one had noticed. On the other hand, Gotham City had its share of homeless just like every major city, so the fact that even the League hadn't noticed didn't surprise the mage quite as badly. But every life was precious, every life was worth saving, and to see these people like this….it gave the young woman yet another reason to end this nightmare as quickly as possible.

The people themselves looked ill, pale feverish skin, the eyes always searching for what she didn't know, all quietly murmuring to themselves, but she couldn't make out what was being said. Every last one of these people used the crude tools they were supplied with to create an altar-like structure beneath the mirror. She could already make out several ornaments on the platform it stood upon. Though they looked like ornaments for a psychotic murderer, the scenes depicted only showed what she guessed were the same beasts that attacked them, killing countless people.

Corpse strewn battlefields that were so tainted that not even the vultures dared to feed upon the fallen. Cities razed to the ground, burning buildings and more, the killing just didn't seem to end, each adornment revealed a new cruelty. She was so fixated on the pictures that were engraved in stone that she at first didn't even notice that the mirror like thing flashed once before depositing a new group of monsters.

When she did notice however, she was quick to see that they had brought slaves with them, and they appeared to be human too. However, these looked even more sickly than the beggars who were still working on the altar. They had numerous festering boils upon their bodies, their eyes glassed over and they were all disturbingly thin.

Zatanna finally shook herself out of her stupor and continued towards the mirror. She hoped she could find a way to disable it before more of these things were able to set foot into the caves, or at least, that was what she hoped for anyway.

That proved to be a mistake however as she soon found out. When she stood three feet away from the mirror, the monsters stopped marching and turned towards her as though they could see her. Before she could wonder what had happened, she felt as though her limbs had been grabbed with incredible force, and she was slowly dragged towards the mirror. Against her will, one hand touched its surface. For an infinitely long moment, nothing happened, and then her mind was almost shattered by the onslaught of the voice of the being on the other side.

 _I see you, little mage._ The voice boomed in her head, the sadistic glee of the creature communicating with her was palpable. Zatanna would have grabbed her head if possible, but as it was she could only let loose a soundless scream in her mind. A sinister chuckle was the only answer to the pain she had to endure.

 _Did you really believe that you would remain hidden forever?_ The voice taunted her, underlying hatred resonated within it. _Tell your world of my coming, for I have lain claim to it. The end is nigh, and your souls shall be mine._

The mental pain stopped for a moment and Zatanna gasped for breath during the short moment of peace. She had only enough time for single breath however as a blinding light emerged from the mirror. The next thing she knew was that her astral form was flung back into her body and the golden dome that Doctor Fate had cast to protect her shattered from the powerful backwash of magical energies.

Barely conscious, she fell towards the earth, too exhausted to cast a spell to save herself. Before she could hit the ground though, she felt herself caught by a pair of hands. When she looked up at her saviour she saw the familiar helmet of Nabu, and beneath it the eyes of Giovanni Zatara. "Father." Zatanna said as she weakly tried to grasp him, but she fell unconscious before she could do so.

**Undisclosed Location, Earth**

**August 20th, 2016**

**1;07 AM**

Vandal Savage and what remained of the Light had gathered to discuss the unfolding chaos in Gotham City. The immortal hated surprises, hated the very idea that someone or something had taken it upon themselves to invade what he considered his world. He had lived on Earth for over fifty thousand years, and he wasn't about to hand it over without a fight. All of his years of planning, all of his scheming to ensure humanity developed along the path _he_ desired would not be undone now, especially with someone as powerful as Darkseid waiting for what had been promised.

Turning to one of the monitors that surrounded him, Vandal folded his massive hands behind his back and regarded the recently revived Ra's Al Ghul. The undisputed leader of the League of Shadows was uncommonly tense at the news he had received about the situation in Gotham, making Savage wonder if he was worried about his people, or perhaps one in particular. Whatever the case, he didn't linger on it for long since they were in agreement about one thing, they needed to end this new threat. The question up for debate however, was whether or not they fought beside their arch rivals, the Justice League, or let them fall one by one to the horde that was even then, attempting to overwhelm them.

"As many times that the League, and by association, their proteges have disrupted our plans, we cannot ignore the fact that a few of our members have personal ties with the heroes." This Vandal directed at Black Manta, the human outcast and leader of the Black Manta organization, before turning to the gathered members of the Light as a whole. "With that in mind, I believe our best strategy would be to aid the League only so far as to help them eliminate this new threat. They are still essential for our future plans, and as such, should be kept alive at all cost."

"Well I don't like it." Klarion pouted and turned his head to the side, appearing for all intents and purposes, to be pouting. "I say we let them get splattered by these guys so we can have some real fun." The annoyed meow from a cat somewhere behind the powerful Chaos Lord had Klarion sighing in exasperation. "Oh fine, we can help the wonder brats and the old farts, but I still say we should just let them get killed off. Stupid cat."

"It has often been said that it is better to deal with the devil you know than a new, potentially more powerful adversary." Ra's began slowly, calmly despite the underlying tension they could detect in his voice, earning a nod of mild approval from the immortal before he continued. "If you wish my advice Vandal, then we need to assist the League in containing and stopping this new enemy in its tracks. I vote we not only assist them in this endeavor, but we throw every available resource into stopping this pestilence before it has a chance to spread beyond Gotham. Even without the presence of this mutagenic plague we've learned these beings carry, they are still a clear and present danger to our way of life and our future plans."

"I agree." Black Manta replied, his face hidden by his imposing black mask with its giant red eyes. "We cannot afford to show mercy or leniency against these abominations. Despite the fact my son fights besides the League, I would still say the same thing in regards to this invasion. They were foolish enough to step onto our world, and they shall pay the ultimate price for their insolence."

"The potential of this plague is practically limitless." Lex Luthor chimed in, a thoughtful look on his face as he regarded his fellows in crime from his own monitor room. "If we could get a viable sample, we could potentially weaponize it for future use against the League, but if it proves too volatile, Lexcorp and Star Labs could just as easily begin work on a counter agent. From a business standpoint alone however, we have much to gain and little to lose. I vote we assist the League, if for no other reason that as much of a headache they've become, this is our world as well. It wouldn't do to have an unknown force to overrun it after all."

"Very well. I will leave that task to your company Luthor, but for now, we will stand united in the Light. Gather our forces gentlemen, we go to war against this invasion." Vandal declared, and as one, the monitors switched off, enveloping the circular chamber in darkness. His mind was a whirl as he stepped out of the chamber, planning to make a few calls of his own. Professor Ivo and his robotic creations would make good foot soldiers against this invasion, and then there were the Terror Twins, just to name two operatives that Vandal had plans to throw against this latest problem. The thought of entering battle personally however thrilled the immortal to no end. Despite his age, despite everything he had seen and experienced over the eons, fighting was still the greatest test of his prowess he could think of, and what better opportunity would he get than this? His decision made, Vandal made it a point to stop in his considerable sized armory, where weapons from every age, awaited him, plus more than a few he or others had created over the years. If he was going to war, then he needed the right implements for the job.

**Infinity Island, League of Shadows HQ**

While Vandal Savage was preparing for battle, Ra's was doing the same from the temple that housed his legendary assassins. Men and women from around the world, united in upholding the natural law of the world, despite some changes to their mandate now that he, and thus they, were a part of the Light. They still dispensed hard, unforgiving justice where it was due, while advancing their own agendas, but they also worked alongside the other members of the Light, ensuring that Earth would one day become the center of the galaxy.

Looking down into the courtyard from the balcony, Ra's looked to his left and sent a silent prayer to his daughter, Talia, who was already on her way to Gotham to no doubt assist Batman personally in the fight, before turning his gaze to the gathered warriors. "We have been called to war. Such a thing has not happened before, but the fate of our world is at stake. The rumors you have heard are true, and that this new threat is like no other we have encountered before. But you are shadows, striking from the darkness when our enemies least expect it. But today I must ask you to do more than we have before." To a man, the assassins roared their approval, their desire to follow Ra's to the very bowels of Hell and back if that was what it took. Ra's let a small, warm smile encompass his face at his people's willingness to protect their home world, to stand beside him in this endeavor.

**Lexcorp, Metropolis HQ**

Lex Luthor folded his hands under his chin before he activated his comm line to his new head of security. "Thomas, I need you to gather the boys. I'm planning a trip to Gotham, and I hear the streets are rather dangerous these days. Also, be sure to have R & D prepare the new prototype armor exoskeletons for the occasion. I think a field demonstration is in order."

"Yes sir. Will there be anything else?" The man asked, a knowing smirk plastered on his face.

"Now that you mention it. Tell the R & D technicians to prepare for live captures. We've been asked to collect a few specimens, and I don't want to disappoint my investors." Lex chuckled lightly as Thomas deactivated his comms to do as he had asked. Turning to the brunette woman at his side, the genius businessman leaned back in his chair and regarded the android for a moment before speaking again. "Mercy, hold any further calls and appointments until this situation has been dealt with will you? Also, tell the United Nations that I've decided to lead the humanitarian relief efforts personally while this ongoing crisis continues. Afterward, have the jet prepped and ready to depart as soon as humanly possible. We're going to be very busy for the foreseeable future." The android nodded her head before she too started on her assigned tasks.

While she did that, Lex Luthor looked out the floor to ceiling window that dominated the skyscraper's top floors. Despite his calm disposition, secretly, he wondered just what new threat had decided to invade Earth this time. Like the heroes he was going to aid in the fight for their world, he felt that something was different about this invasion than previous ones. Whatever the case, he couldn't contain his glee either at having an opportunity to field test some of his latest inventions against the same enemy, all in the efforts of ensuring the peace of course. In reality, like so many things he did, there was more to his every move than anyone not privy to the way his mind operated could ever imagine.

**Thirty miles from the shore of Gotham City**

Black Manta looked towards the mercenary and assassin, Deathstroke, who had decided to tag along when news had first filtered out of the beleaguered city, before turning to the public address system that would allow him to speak to his own troops. Like any good general, he cared for the fate of his men, and he would not, could not send them to this war without some words of encouragement. Picking up the microphone in front of him, Black Manta stood from his chair, his gaze fixated on the dark ocean they were currently passing through for several seconds before he began to speak.

"There is a developing crisis in Gotham City. A new enemy has made its presence known, and we have been asked to help in the assault to reclaim it. Normally I would not agree to this, but this enemy is different. It does not discriminate in who it attacks, which makes this threat one we cannot ignore. If they manage to spread beyond Gotham, then it could potentially spread out of control. While the League has already engaged this new enemy, their collective might is not enough on its own." He let the shocked murmurs this statement would no doubt elicit from his people die down before he continued. "This is a full scale invasion, and as such, no mercy shall be shown. When we make land, I expect each and every one of you to stand strong and face this threat as you've been trained. Together, we can beat these creatures back!"

Black Manta grinned when his command staff on the bridge, as well as every soldier aboard the Manta-Flyer, cheered and roared their eagerness to face this new enemy head on. He waited until the noise had died down before he began to issues orders, making every preparation he could think of that might help turn the tide in their favor. Whatever came next, he was certain of only one thing. The enemy might change, but war remained the same. Whether they came out of this victorious or not, Manta took some measure of comfort that he had so far done all he could to ensure that they wouldn't go down without a fight.

Turning to Deathstroke again, Black Manta saw the barest hint of a grin, and chuckled at the look on the mercenary's face. It seemed his stirring speech had done its job better than he thought it would. Despite this, he couldn't help but feel his thoughts go out to his son, Kaldur'ahm. Despite their differences which put them on opposite sides, he was honestly proud of the man his son had become. That didn't mean he wouldn't give him a piece of his mind when they met on the field of battle, but the fact remained that Kaldur had become a fine warrior, and that to fight beside his son made the man more than a little excited to stand united for the first time in their lives despite the dire circumstances pushing them together.


	4. Crossing Boundaries

_Opening Notes; I never forgot this story. I was just distracted by life and other ideas that took precedence. Even so, I hope this chapter answers a few questions I've been asked in the reviews lol. Enjoy folks, and thank you again Nomad-117 for the help on this one. Adios!_

**Episode 4; Crossing Boundaries**

**Alaska, Abandoned Oil Platform**

**August 20, 2016**

**1;14 AM**

"Did it work?" Batman asked Freeze as both of them stared at Nightwing, who was suspended in a secondary cryotube. Freeze briefly glanced at the Dark Knight before returning his attention towards the frozen hero. The holographic computer that was integrated into the wrist of his armor began to light up and display Nightwing's medical data.

Batman barely held back a growl, he knew that he had to let Freeze do his job, but just standing there was incredibly difficult. The father in him screamed, raged, and demanded answers, and he wanted them now. But Bruce had long since learned to act more rational than that, which often made him appear cold or unfeeling even though he was anything but. He simply accepted that to save as many people as possible, one had to be prepared to make sacrifices, and in order to choose the 'correct' sacrifice he had to think rationally about every situation and consider every angle. However, there were days where he hated what he had become, thus he had adopted Dick, so that the boy would never feel the same way about himself.

Bruce was shaken out of his thoughts by Victor's slightly synthetic sounding voice. "It worked, but only partly. The virus is still progressing, though at a much slower rate."

"How slow?" Batman asked the cryogenic villain. This wasn't what he had hoped for, but maybe it could still work. His brief hopes were soon dashed though by what Victor said next.

"Not slow enough for us to find a suitable vaccination in time I'm afraid." Freeze told him, his expression softening marginally. "I am sorry, there is nothing I can do for him save to delay the inevitable."

Batman's expression hardened, his worst fears becoming reality. From the moment he had heard that they were dealing with a magical pathogen, he'd been worried that freezing Dick wouldn't be enough, and now he had once again been proven right. That didn't mean that he would simply give up. No, he would fight for the life of his son until the last moment, or until his last breath, whatever came first.

Before he had the chance to contemplate further, his League communicator went off, signaling an incoming transmission. Despite all his worries, he knew that he still had a duty to the people of Gotham and thus couldn't simply ignore the call. Besides there was also the chance that the League had gained valuable information about their enemy while fighting them, maybe even something that could help in Nightwing's recovery. While unlikely, he could hold out hope.

He pressed one hand to the side of his cowl and activated the communicator. "What do you want?" He growled out, his tone alone made it clear that he was in no mood to have his time wasted, or rather even less so than normally.

Freeze watched the Dark Knight silently as he reacted to what was said on the other end, though what it was he couldn't hear. He didn't have to though by what Batman said in response.

"Black Manta's troops made landfall and are supporting your flanks? Together with the League of Assassins _and_ Luthor?" Batman asked whoever was on the other end, only a slight waver in his voice showing his surprise. "If they are willing to help, then the situation is worse than we initially thought." Despite what he said, Bruce was also grateful they weren't trying to hinder the League's efforts. They didn't need two enemy fronts to worry about when one was problematic on its own. Even so, Bruce once again listened to what was being said. "Zatanna managed to locate the portal? I will arrive shortly. Make sure that nothing happens to her, we need the information she possesses."

With that, the black clad hero turned towards his opponent. "I will leave Nightwing in your care, try to slow down the infection as much as you can. I trust that nothing will happen to him." Batman said, the thinly veiled threat at the end easily recognisable for what it was by Freeze.

If the villain was bothered by it, he didn't show it. "I will keep him safe, you have my word, Batman." Victor said solemnly. Batman had more than once saved his family, it was time to return the favor. Without another word, the Dark Knight left the building as quickly as he'd come, leaving Freeze to try and keep his son alive. A task that Victor was determined to see accomplished, one way or the other.

**Gotham City, Connecticut.**

**August 20th, 2016**

**1;43 AM**

Blue Beetle had overwatch duty. The 'clone' Roy Harper and several others were on the ground, directing the evacuation as best they could. The city was lost as far as the Scarab was concerned, but that was an opinion Jaime didn't share. He'd give up hope only when there was no hope left.

Even though some higher ups seemed to share the Scarab's point of view. Since the beginning of the attack, the fungus like growth that they had encountered beneath Arkham had begun to spread through some parts of the city, leaving everything it touched dead and lifeless. Assuming of course if it didn't transform the plants and grass into hideous mutated abominations anyway.

The National Guard had orders to sterilize the infected parts of the city, though they did their best to save as many civilians as possible first. After that, well Jaime could imagine what they meant by 'sterilize'. They'd likely drop the biggest bomb they had and completely obliterate the city, and the corruptive plague that came with it, but if what the League believed was true, then they'd need more than an atom bomb to destroy a magical based plague.

The senior members of the League were currently arguing with the officials about their rather drastic measures. They pointed out that they couldn't guarantee that the plague would resurface in another part of the country, the government could hardly bomb every major city into oblivion just to "solve" the problem quickly. There was _always_ another way, and it was still early in the attack. They still had time to fix this thing before it got out of hand. That's what he believed anyway as he directed his gaze towards the distant sound of explosions and gunfire. Downtown Gotham was in flames, but it was still a long way off from where they were, for now.

 _Jaime, plague carriers detected._ The Scarab said, and directed his gaze towards the street several stories below them. There were only a handful, but the beasts were in the process of chasing a family of five.

"I'm moving to engage. Static, think you can give me covering fire?" Jaime asked as he jumped off the building before he activating his wings, the blue and black frame forming first before the gossamer like membranes formed within the confines. Alien tech, he never got tired of the advantages it gave him these days. Despite what the Reach would have made him become, Jaime had gotten past that thanks to his friends on the team. That and booting the aliens off their world had been very satisfying.

But those were thoughts for another time as Virgil laid down a static discharge after hoverboarding off the wall of a building, easily dashing around the family before laying down fire on the monsters chasing them. "Got it BB! Do your thang!" Static called out after stopping the creatures in their tracks.

"Already on it hermano." Jaime answered and moved to engage the creatures that prowled Gotham's streets. Several staple shots later had the enemy pinned to the buildings on both side of the streets, all of them knocked out cold when they hit the walls hard. "Go! There's still transports waiting to get you outta the city!" Jaime yelled to the civilians before turning to Virgil. "We need to step up our game. That was too close."

"I've been doin' this all night Blue. You ain't tellin' _me_ anything new." Static shot back as he crossed his arms and continued to hover a foot off the ground on his board.

Blue Beetle frowned beneath his mask, as effective as their maneuvers appeared to be, they simply weren't made for a fight of this scale. They had to change tactics or they would be overrun. If they somehow could find a way to lure these creatures into a trap than they could neutralize a lot of them at once, but without knowing their objective they couldn't plan anything of that magnitude.

As if sensing Blue Beetle's uncertainty, Virgil let his feet touch the ground before kicking his board into his hands as he would have a regular skateboard before collapsing it down so he could put it into his pack. Once he did, he put a hand on Jaime's shoulder. "Look Jaime, I know this isn't our usual gig, but we'll find a way to get through this. You and the gang beat back everything else that's been thrown our way."

"Yeah but this is somethin' else hermano. Still, you're right." Jaime replied and nodded his head before looking over Virgil's shoulder. Quietly pushing past him, he narrowed his eyes and had his Scarab zoom in on what he'd seen. "What the-is that what I think it is?"

"One of ours or one of theirs?" Virgil asked, having no idea what Jaime was looking at since he didn't have built in binoculars on his own mask. His was far simpler than the advanced alien armored friend beside him.

"Neither, but they seem to be on our side." Was Jaime's response before he took off, wanting a closer look. "BB to team. We got reinforcements….I think."

"Come again? Hey hold up!" Static called out before pulling out his board. Doing his best to keep up with the flying hero, Virgil's gaze wandered from his friend's quickly departing form before finding the far bigger mechanized soldiers in the center of the street. The Lexcorp insignia proudly emblazoned on their shoulders had him charging up an orb of electricity in both hands. "Luthor's goons?!"

Jaime landed right in front of Virgil before he could unload on them. "Stand down Static! They're friendly, for once."

"Luthor friendly?! That'll be the day! You know what he did to me and the other guys, used us in his game to get that crystal key from the Reach!" Virgil shouted, not about to give this one up so easily. He and the other teens that the Reach had experimented on had been used as a distraction while one of Luthor's boys had slipped in and taken the key right out from under the Reach.

"He also had you and the others get the team out of the War World." Jaime was quick to remind him.

"I am telling you, you can't trust Luthor." Static growled, his hands clenching and unclenching in a surprising show of anger.

Luthor himself, encased in a green giant of an armored suit even among his peers, chuckled as he folded his hands behind his back. "Virgil, my dear boy, when are you going to let that go? I told Jaime Reyes the truth when I said that this world is ours just as much as it's yours. We don't want to see it consumed in this plague anymore than you do. Now, if you'll excuse me, my associates and I have a city to save." With that, Luthor and close to three dozen armored soldiers filed down the center of the street, making way for the few civilians that hadn't already gotten out of the danger zone.

Soon enough, Jaime and Virgil were once again alone, but Jaime didn't need M'gann's telepathy to know what his friend was thinking. Still, he was glad to see Virgil relax, albeit slightly, once the mechanized units and their Lexcorp goons were out of sight. "Let's just see if the others are still alright." Jaime said at length before waiting for Static to take the lead. He wasn't about to let him out of his sight until he had calmed down.

Static only nodded before storming off, his encounter with Luthor only serving to aggravate him even more. He wasn't about to forget how the man had used him and his own friends, the same kids the Reach had experimented on, to accomplish his goals. Even in the middle of an invasion, Static was sure Luthor had his own plan regarding the monsters they were trying to contain or eliminate. It was just how he operated.

"If it's any consolation to ya hermano, I _don't_ trust Luthor, but right now we have other problems to deal with." Jaime said in an effort to defuse the tension filled silence that had fallen between them.

"Yeah I know….sorry for blowin' up on ya BB." Virgil replied as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"It happens. 'Least you were in control of your own actions." Jaime replied with a shrug before putting on an extra burst of speed. They still had a job to do.

**Downtown Gotham.**

**About the same time….**

"Did I hear that right? Lex Luthor and his goon squad are heading our way?" Artemis asked as she and Kaldur found themselves once again back to back. She had ran out of crossbow bolts some time ago, and had resorted to hand to hand, her katana's blade black with monster ichor and blood, but she hardly noticed.

"It would seem so. And that's not the only report that I find troubling." The Atlantean replied as he dispatched yet another in the seemingly endless horde of monsters before them.

"What else is there? Is your father joining the party too?" Artemis asked him mockingly. The flat stare she got in return told her everything she needed to know. "You're kidding, right?" When twin beams of red energy erupted from the left, where the ocean hit the edge of Gotham City, she had her answer. "This day just keeps gets better and better." She grumbled, but she wasn't about to complain if that meant they'd get some room to breathe.

"Kaldur'ahm! Still fighting for a foolish, weak king I see!" Black Manta yelled as he and his soldiers stormed the street, laser weapons at the ready as they laid down a suppressive fire on anything that wasn't human. Before long, everything in front of them was riddled full of holes. Only once the street was cleared did he remove his helmet and tuck it under his arm and approach the two heroes, an approving gleam in his hard gaze at the dozens of dead monsters at their feet. "Yet you have grown into an impressive warrior. I know we may never see eye to eye, but in this at least we can agree upon."

"Sir, we have reports of more of these beasts coming up 4th and Main. We've also intercepted transmissions between Superman and the Lanterns that they've hit the park hard." One of his men said, distracting him from the tense family reunion.

"Then we go to where the fighting is thickest. Get the Manta-Flyer ready to bombard the area before we move in and mop up. I want these monsters to know this world is not theirs." Kaldur said nothing as his father donned his mask once again before walking away, his loyal soldiers at his back.

Artemis nudged Kaldur's arm to get his attention. "Come on, we aren't finished yet." Having been on the same sub with Kaldur for their undercover mission, she knew Black Manta had the potential to be a good man if he were to ever let go of his desire to overthrow King Orrin and his family. Even so, that day was still a long way off, and they had a job to do. With a nod, Kaldur did his best to keep up with the archer.

**Gotham City Park**

It had taken the better part of an hour for them to fight their way clear of the city, but Jade, Oliver, and the 'Clone' Roy Harper had managed to make their way to the park, where Ra's had been last seen. Knowing how elusive the man was, and how fearsome of a warrior he was due to his exceedingly long life, neither archer held any illusions about taking him on in a fight if he'd been there to take them down. Thankfully, from the same reports they'd been sent by the League, the Shadows were on their side, as was Black Manta, and Lex Luthor's men.

Black Spider was the first to meet them as he hung from a branch, a red web line attached to his right wrist as he dangled upside down. "Was starting to wonder if you'd show up Cheshire. The Great One's been waiting for you."

"I will be there shortly Spider." Was her curt response, but before she got too far, her fellow assassin landed before her, baring her path before looking over her shoulder. "They're with me. We're all working together in this after all." She retorted sarcastically, the cat like claws on her right hand glove unsheathed, which were resting on her upper left arm.

Spider took the subtle threat for what it was and merely shrugged in response. "Alright, but he won't like it. Also, be aware, they like to come right outta the ground. We were already ambushed a couple times since coming out here, but they weren't anything we couldn't handle. Well, gotta split!" With that, Black Spider cheerfully waved before running into the darkness and web slinging away. His progress was easy to mark when the occasional creature was yanked off the ground and hung off of the highest branches before being dropped in short order, where they remained, unmoving.

It didn't take them long to find their way to the center of the Shadows' mobile command center. At least a dozen, unmarked black vans had been driven to the center of the park, where several dozen assassins ran about, delivering supplies to their fellows while setting up defensive measures where they were deemed necessary. Without looking over his shoulder, the Demon's Head himself smiled as he sensed Cheshire's approach. "Jade, it's good to see you've managed to rejoin us. Mr. Queen, Mr. Harper, you seem to be doing well despite this latest threat to our world."

"Get to the chase Ra's, why are you here?" Roy growled out, still a bit sore about the man's part on having him cloned and his original put on ice for years.

Ra's turned and nodded, having expected as much for his part in what had happened during the early days of the Light's attempt to take over the world. Turning to Jade, the Demon's Head let his hands hang loose at his sides, needing to make no overt gestures of hostility. He was in command here. "Despite your part in freeing the original Roy Harper, Jade, I do not blame you. In fact, I salute your efforts in giving your husband the peace he needed to move on with his life, to be the man your child deserves. But we have far more important matters to attend to. I need everyone working together to take Gotham back from these abominations, and you were always one of my favorites."

"Thank you Great One." Jade replied, having taken a knee before the grandmaster of the Shadows. "What do you require of me?"

"You and your family will be required to do what you do best, destroy all opposition in your path. We will do the same. In the meantime, I will try to contact the detective. By my estimations, he should have arrived in Gotham a few minutes ago, enough time to get some information out of young Zatanna. All in an effort to no doubt send the covert ops team to find where these beasts call home and deal with them directly."

"Your plan's all well and good Ra's, but we aren't assassins." Roy grumbled, before looking towards his wife. She merely glanced over her shoulder at him, and Roy had to cough before correcting himself. "Well I'm not anyway, and neither is Green Arrow. We do things our way, not yours."

"Then you are a fool if you think you can merely subdue these abominations, but I will not waste my breath in trying to persuade you to do what is necessary in this instance. Do what you deem you must, and we shall do the same." Just as the words left his mouth, the ground gave way to a clawed, armored hand which wrapped around the Demon's Head foot. He glared at the offending limb before shaking his leg free and stomping on the monster's hand, eliciting a pained roar from the beast just as its head popped free of the dirt. Ra's had a sword in hand by that point, and casually cut the beast's skull open. Once it was dead, the man simply turned to the two heroes, his face unreadable. "Justice is blind, even for these abominations, and thus it is without mercy."

"Say what you want, but we won't join your crusade for 'justice'." Oliver declared adamantly, speaking at last.

Running the length of his blade across a cloth he produced from his green vest, Ra's nodded his head as he cleaned his sword. "As I said before I won't waste my breath by trying to convince you two. However, take this warning, if you haven't even mastered these primitives, then how can you hope to stand against the true horrors that await us?" With that, Ra's dismissed the archers and Cheshire with a simple nod of his head before turning to his fellow Shadows. Oliver wasted no time in getting out of the park with Roy on his heel. Cheshire had since disappeared, as was her namesake. Despite their different methods, they still had one goal in mind, saving their city.

**4th and Main**

Vandal Savage was in his element as he fought beside Superman, Conner, Kaldur'Ahm, Artemis, and the speedsters, Impulse and Flash. Wielding a greatsword that was taller than he was, the immortal was dressed in enough steel plate to make him appear as a steel golem. Wading into their ranks, shrugging off blows that would have staggered a lesser man, Savage picked up one of the smaller creatures and crushed its head in with one hand before tossing its corpse into its fellows. "You face the primeval force on this world. You stand no chance before me."

A sword pierced his throat before he could continue his rant, and while it hardly stopped him, it was still enough to prevent him from speaking. A fact that all heroes present appreciated. He ripped the blade from his neck with his free hand and casually grabbed the offender by his own throat. Despite what would have been a mortal wound for anyone else, Vandal Savage was not mortal, he hadn't been since the Ice Age. Bringing the monster to eye level, he made it watch as the slash mark in his throat healed up rapidly before crushing the monster's neck. The sickening sound of bones being snapped was hardly noticed by Vandal as he tossed the corpse aside before moving deeper into the horde before them.

"Sheesh, is he always that….savage?" Impulse asked, shuddering at the brutal way Vandal had dispatched the creature he had picked up.

"You got no idea kid." Flash replied, having gone toe to toe against the immortal many times in the past. "Just be glad he's on our side right now."

"Duh, ya think?!" Bart retorted as he and Barry continued to run circles around the enemy before them. Despite the numbers still arrayed against them, he had started to notice that the monsters were starting to become less numerous. "Is it just me or are we finally seeing the end of these freaks?"

"You noticed that too huh? We might be reaching the end of the horde."

"Or they could be regrouping for a greater attack." Vandal retorted, his scarred face locked in a determined grimace as his greatsword flashed before him, cutting through multiple groups at a time. "Either way, be glad for the lull in the storm, we will need it to regroup ourselves."

"Says the ancient frost giant." Bart muttered under his breath.

"Careful boy, this frost giant has never fallen in battle, and while our goals are united, we will be enemies again when this is over." Vandal retorted as he laid eyes on one of the giant horned brutes amidst the horde. "He's mine."

In response to Vandal's claim, Bart began to pick up every piece of debris he could find and hurled it at the horned monster at super speed. More and more projectiles hit the towering creature until it succumbed to the bombardment and fell. Still breathing but no longer a threat. "No he isnt. We don't have the time to satisfy your bloodlust, Vandal." Impulse told him, no longer smiling while trying to hide his disgust for the man and his methods.

Savage walked towards the unconscious form of the horned giant and rammed his sword through his throat. Black blood spilled upon the street as Savage claimed his kill. "Never leave an enemy at your back, one of the first rules of the old world. It applies here as well given the simple nature of our enemy today." Vandal huffed before walking forward, continuing to lead the way deeper into the beleaguered city.

"Watchtower to all League members." Everyone paused as Batman's voice rang loud and clear across their communicators. "Zatanna has informed us of the location of the invasion force's way into our reality. It's a mirror, directly below Gotham City, two hundred meters below to be exact. Do your best to clean up any resistance still in the city before coming back. Batman out."

"Finally, some good news." Kaldur stated as he addressed Conner, Artemis, and the speedsters after rejoining their side. "I was beginning to doubt we'd find their point of entry."

"Hey fish boy! We always find a way!" Impulse called out, back to his cheerful self now that they knew where these things were coming from.

"Apparently your League is more competent than I gave them credit for, barely, but still." Vandal said, unable to resist the chance to rattle the heroes' cages, so to speak.

"You have underestimated us before Vandal, and you do it again at your own peril." Kaldur retorted, earning him a menacing growl from the immortal for his words, which were all too accurate. They had foiled the Light's plans time and time again. As much satisfaction as it brought to return the favor, brief as it was, Kaldur jerked his gaze to the thinning enemy ranks. "We still have a long night ahead of us."

**The Watchtower Infirmary….**

Giovanni Zatara was being given a brief reprieve from Nabu's controlling influence, having been allowed to remove the helmet for the first time in years as he sat beside his daughter's bedside. Zatanna was fast asleep, having exhausted herself in an effort to deliver the grim news of what she'd seen under the Asylum. The intel she had gathered had almost cost her her life when she had encountered the monstrosity in command of the creatures they were currently fighting on the Earth's surface. Sensing Batman's presence behind him, Giovanni hardly moved when the Dark Knight put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know what surprises me more old friend, the fact that Nabu let me go, or the fact we're having this conversation by what could have been my daughter's deathbed."

"You were there to catch her." Bruce replied simply, but nodded his head in understanding. Nabu could have just as easily of let Zatanna fall to her death. While that scenario was unlikely, it was still a possibility if the Lord of Order was forced to choose between maintaining the balance between himself and his counterpart, or saving Giovanni's only family he had left. Chances were good Nabu would choose to forsake mortal attachments if given a chance to keep Klarion in check, but it hadn't happened today, for which he and Giovanni were grateful for.

Gently grasping Zatanna's hand in one of his own, Zatara could only sigh as he lowered his head. "I am glad you have kept Nabu in check, Bruce, but I cannot thank you enough for making sure Zatanna has been taken care of. I know….this can't have been easy for her, losing me to the Helmet of Fate for as long as she has. But for her, I would do it all again. She is worth it."

"You don't have to explain it to me Giovanni." Bruce replied, understanding all too well what Zatara was trying to say as he walked away, leaving the man to spend what time Nabu had allowed him with his daughter. He had his own family troubles to worry about, not to mention an invasion to repel, but at least the latter looked to be settling down some from what he'd heard from his fellow League members. Whether or not the beasts were gearing up for a second attack, he couldn't say, but he'd take any break he could get now that they'd been going at it for as long as they had been. He wanted every League member to go through a thorough examination, to ensure that none of them had been infected, before they were allowed back into the field. After that, he'd start making plans to blast a path right to the portal.

He wasn't going to risk any of their lives by trying to navigate the labyrinth the monsters had set up. No, they'd go right to the source, and he had the perfect man for the job. "Superman, report to the main hall. We need to talk."

Making his own way to the hall, Batman's ears heard the distant zeta platforms start to activate as every hero that had gone down to Gotham started to return, most of them in good shape from his cursory glance in their direction. Wonder Woman and Cassie were a little worse for wear, their armor a little singed, but they looked as confident as ever. Black Canary returned with Barbara Gordon and Tim Drake, much to Bruce's relief when he saw that other than being tired, they were unharmed. He showed his relief through a small nod in their direction, a little gesture but all members of the Bat-family knew what it meant. They returned the nod before pulling away from Dinah, able to make their own way.

"You wanted to talk?" Bruce looked over his shoulder before nodding his head to Clark Kent and his own protege, Conner who was followed by M'gann.

"I'm not going to have anyone try and navigate the maze these things have created under the city. I need you to blast a hole right to the portal chamber. It's the only way we can ensure we have a clear path right to where these things are coming from."

Kaldur and Artemis were the next to appear, and it was the Atlantean that asked, "And what do you propose we do to prevent them from defending the portal in great numbers?"

"I already have an attack plan, three teams will cause a distraction by attacking on three separate tunnel entrances. In the mean time, a small strike force will move in, and secure the objective." This he directed at Conner, M'gann, and the rest of the team that were either just showing up or were on their way, having linked them into the conversation through their respective comms.

Superman cocked his head and narrowed his eyes a little. "What are you planning to do then?"

"We know that the creatures brought humans with them, we are going to send a team through the portal in hopes of establishing contact with them and getting a cure for this disease. If not a cure, then at the very least any intel that we might be able to use to stop these creatures in their tracks."

"I'll gather my team. We'll get it done Batman." Kaldur replied, business as always as he looked over his shoulder to regard M'gann, Conner, Bart, Jaime, and the rest of the team. They nodded in understanding, knowing full well the stakes, but this was what they had trained for.

"Before you go, you should know that you will have to bring Nightwing with you. I already sent word to Fries, he's bringing the cryotube as close to the portal as he can and is even now setting up a lab." Batman told them solemnly, his tone alone told them that their friend was still in critical condition. "He is running out of time, even if you find something to help him, you wouldn't have the time to bring it back here."

"We _won't_ let it come to that." Artemis stated, making it plain that despite her behavior, Richard was still a valued friend and ally. There was no way she'd let him go without a fight. None of them would.

"Good, I'll hold you to that." Batman simply replied, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. They had their jobs to do, and they'd see it done, or die trying. "I should brief our new 'allies'. I have no doubt that at least Ra's is keeping a close eye on our actions. And as long as they are on our side I see no reason not to use their resources."

"So long as we ain't trustin' 'em, I'm all for it." Virgil stated, summing up some of the team's thoughts quite nicely.

"Your history with Luthor is noted Static. But again, so long as we're working together, I am not against using their resources to ensure our world isn't taken over by these creatures." With that, Batman left them to ensure the Light and their allies were kept in the loop.

**Arkham Asylum**

**2;35 AM**

Despite the fact that Gotham was under attack, no one had even attempted to move the various supervillains out of their cells. Or maybe it was because the city was under attack, if even one of them managed to escape during the chaos, the mayhem in the streets would increase even more, and the League had enough problems as it were.

Less noble mindsets didn't care if all of them died within their cells, in fact, many would welcome it, though no one was crazy enough to bring the creatures into Arkham intentionally. News reports had pretty much made it clear they didn't discriminate, killing or capturing anyone they could get their hands on equally. But what they had planned didn't require them to go into the Asylum itself, not this time anyway.

Batman and the League waited for Superman to find an appropriate spot to start digging, the Man of Steel using his X-Ray vision to scan the grounds around the infamous structure. Just when Bruce was about to call out to Clark, Superman took off towards the sky before shooting back down, fast. The explosion of dirt, concrete, and plant life was immense, but Bruce hardly flinched as Superman disappeared beneath their feet, tunneling a clear path down to the portal chamber, circumventing the established tunnels altogether. It wouldn't take long for the creatures to figure out what they were doing, but by then it'd be too late as he and the League played their part, allowing the covert ops team to slip in relatively undetected. He just hoped that they would be able to use the portal safely, which meant without landing directly in the lair of the creatures or the creature that had attacked Zatanna.

Looking over his right shoulder, where Doctor Fate stood once more, Giovanni having donned the helmet as he had promised he would once he was sure Zatanna was out of danger, Bruce's gaze fell on the pale girl directly next to him. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"I'll be fine, just don't ask me to pull too many hat tricks for a while." Zatanna joked weakly, the attack having left her more vulnerable than she would have liked, but she would be damned if that would keep her from helping her friends. "I _need_ to be here." She stated further, her gaze hardening as she waited for the signal to move forward with the rest of her 'family'

Dinah, who had volunteered to serve as their XO, Richard, when they let him out of cryostasis, Conner, M'gann, Artemis, and Zatanna had volunteered for the mission to scout out the other side of the portal. The rest were going to take the portal to a secure location, far from the scourge that had taken Gotham by storm. That was the plan anyway. Not that they had a great track record of plans that worked out the way they wanted to. They had had to improvise a lot in the past. But as Batman had said once, no plan ever survived first contact with an enemy. The way they adapted demonstrated character, among other things.

Superman's voice interrupted their collective thoughts, much to Bruce's relief and the team's cheer. "The way's clear." He soon reappeared, flying out of the same hole he'd just dug out for the team.

"Get through that portal while the way is clear. We are going to make sure that you encounter no to little resistance." With that, the Dark Knight was the first through the hole, followed closely by Martian Manhunter, the Hawks, the Green Lanterns, and more. Soon enough, the sounds of fighting echoed out of the newly dug tunnel, the League having made their own entrances into the labyrinth, diverting attention away from the portal chamber in the process.

"M'gann, you get Nightwing and make sure that he gets down their in one piece, the rest of us will cover you. Once you are down we begin the thawing process." Black Canary ordered, making sure that the team was ready for what lay before them.

"On it." The martian girl nodded her head before pulling her hood low over her face and disappearing from sight. Flying away at top speed, she made a beeline for Fries's new lab, leaving the team to clear the chamber itself. If all went well, they'd be through the strange looking mirror by the time she got back with Nightwing's cryotube in her telekinetic grasp.

As expected, the moment they entered the chamber, they were beset on all sides by the stragglers, but they were ready. Between the four of them though, the few monsters in the portal chamber were soon defeated or dead, leaving them time to examine the mirror itself. Zatanna jerked Conner's hand away when he went to touch it. "Don't. The last time I put my hand on it, I was almost destroyed by whoever or whatever was on the other side, and that was with my astral projection form."

"Well we need to do something." Conner retorted sharply.

"So how do we get through?" Artemis asked impatiently while shooting another bolt through a kneecap of one of the advancing creatures.

Looking at the runes that ran along the length of the mirror's edge, Zatanna took a hesitant step forward. "I have an idea, not sure if it'll work though. You're familiar with my locator spell, right? I thought that I could reverse its properties and cast it upon the mirror like some sort of jammer. To confuse the thing on the other side. If all goes well, it won't be able to tell if the mirror has been used or not."

"And if it doesn't?" Dinah asked, concern easy to hear in her voice as she laid out another creature flat with a snap kick to its face.

"Well, you won't be around to complain about it." Zatanna replied with a shrug.

"Do what you can, we'll cover you. I have faith you'll pull this off." Black Canary replied, a sentiment shared by her friends as they formed a half circle around the sorceress supreme. Just as she started to incant, the martian returned with their frozen leader in tow. Dinah wasted no time in addressing the girl, a small, grateful smile on her face for her swift and safe return. "And M'gann? I think it's high time to wake Nightwing."

"The thawing process is already underway. Establishing telepathic link." M'gann stated, needing no prompting as everyone was soon linked with the martian, their thoughts far easier heard than their voices would ever be in the midst of the fight that was about to come down on them if the roars and screeches that echoed down the numerous tunnels around them were anything to go by.

 _We're good to go._ Conner stated and slammed his fist into his open hand as he set his sights on one of the giants. "You want to see how a kryptonian fights?! Let's go!" He roared, getting the brute's undivided attention, only to grin as he jumped behind Black Canary just as she let loose one of her super sonic screeches. "Sorry pal, not today!"

Several tunnel entrances were quickly collapsed, burying more than a few of the monsters in the process which only helped to even the odds in their favor. "Never get tired of that trick." Artemis stated, her crossbow out and singing its all too familiar tune as one bolt after another found their marks, leaving enemies pinned or clutching at their limbs in agony. Though more than just a few were literally nailed to the wall. As she had discovered, the bigger ones didn't stop just because they were in pain, some even continued to crawl towards you if you didn't do something to stop them. That's where her katana came in, much to her disgust.

M'gann was having an easier time of it as she did her best to protect Richard as the cryotube slowly went through the thaw process, the internal temperature rising steadily so as not to damage any internal organs by shocking his system. Lifting more than a dozen at a time, the martian soon threw them across the chamber before picking up a good sized boulder and using it as a ram, bowling over several more before using the boulder as a makeshift shield when a barrage of arrows were aimed in her direction.

 _How is our sleeping beauty?_ Artemis asked over their telepathic connection since she was too preoccupied with fighting more of the armed monster to speak the traditional way. Not that anyone could have heard her, the sound of steel on steel and the screams of the creatures were too loud for regular communication.

 _Thirty seconds until thawing is complete._ M'gann stated, having glanced at the holographic readout on the machine. _And he is kind of cute when he's asleep isn't he?_

 _I heard that._ The groggy sounding mental voice of Richard Grayson replied. _What'd I miss?_ He asked, slowly coming around as the lid of the cryotube started to lift away, letting him fall to the ground at its feet. Artemis was at his side in an instant, with Dinah not two feet away.

 _We'll explain on the way_. _We're about to begin another of our suicide missions, you in?_ Artemis answered, neither her body language nor her mental voice betraying any kind of uneasiness at the prospect of facing mortal danger.

 _I had nothing planned for the rest of the week._ Richard shot back with a subtle grin plastered on his face. But it didn't reach his eyes as he forced himself to his feet before looking to Zatanna, just as she finished her spell casting. _I take it this is theirs?_

 _Ours now. The League will pick it up once we're through._ Zatanna replied before beckoning them forward. They wasted no time, Richard nodding his thanks for what they'd done already while he'd been on the sidelines before he jumped through first. His gratitude was felt through the link, but they hardly paid it a second thought as they followed in his wake, with Zatanna throwing a barrier around the mirror to stop any pursuit before jumping in behind them.

It was a disconcerting feeling, pictures of places seemed to race by, sounds from far away could be heard and mingled with each other, even their sense of up and down seemed to play games with them. But just as quickly as it began, it ended, the mirror on the other end spitting them out in a disorganized heap. "We are not….doing that again." Artemis grunted as she rolled off of Zatanna's back, staring at a dark, stone ceiling. She blinked when she sat up, realizing just as the others did that they were in some kind of temple, old and abandoned for years perhaps, but the stonework around them said they had wound up in some kind of building. "Guys, I think it worked."

"Was there ever any doubt?" Richard asked, rubbing at his sore back where Conner's giant boot had just been resting a moment ago.

"Plenty. But we made it so I'm not going to complain." Despite her complaint, Artemis shot a grin at the dark clad hero among them before helping Dinah to her feet.

M'gann had since aided Zatanna to her own feet, and smiled briefly at them all. "I didn't doubt we'd make it. We've been through too much together to be defeated so easily."

"Now it's just a matter of finding a way out and gauging where we go from here." Dinah replied as she leveled her gaze on Richard. With a nod, he returned the look, but reluctantly fell behind her and Artemis. "Glad we can agree."

"I don't like it, but I'll let you guys take point. 'Sides, just means I can take it easy." Even as the words left his mouth though, Dick couldn't help but shudder as a cold chill ran down his spine. He was living on borrowed time. They didn't have time to waste, not if they wanted to ensure he kept on breathing.

He didn't feel too bad, yet. But he knew that soon he would start coughing again, and the shivering would soon follow. Then the physical changes would no doubt follow after that. He hated being sick, even if it was just a case of the sniffles, but the thought of being finally defeated by a disease upset him more than he was willing to admit.

Though he still had hope and so, he began to put his training to use. Looking around the chamber, he could see there was little light in the room, most of it coming from the still glowing mirror behind them. The air was completely still, not even the barest whisper of the air, and he got the familiar vibe of being underground. "Well, we're definitely underground." He cheerfully stated, before looking towards one of the strange, but rather beautiful stone statues that lined the walls. "If I were to guess, we're in pretty deep. This place has been well preserved. Most of the statues and carvings on the wall seem to be mostly intact. Whatever this place was, it was made to last."

"Which means we have a bit of a hike ahead of us. Better get started then." Dinah stated before leading the way with Zatanna, the mage summoning a small, glowing orb of light in her right hand.

"Wait, what about our way home? What should we do with it?" Artemis asked them before they got too far.

"We can't take it with us, and we have no idea where we'd be able to leave it even if we could. And if we place any spells on it to prevent them from following, it would draw the attention of the creature that attacked us before. For now, we'll simply let it be. If it hasn't been discovered before now, I think it'll be safe as is, so long as we don't draw anymore attention to it." Zatanna replied, sharing Artemis's concerns, but she was sure leaving the mirror alone was the right course. "I don't want to be stuck here anymore than you do, but we have to take the chance."

"Alright. But I just want to go on record in saying that I _don't_ like this plan." Artemis retorted, but said nothing more on the subject.

"Noted. Now, if that's all, I'd like to continue on." Nightwing told her calmly, the unspoken 'because I don't have much time left' hung uncomfortably between them. They didn't need him to clarify it either as they fell in behind Dinah and Zatanna, subconsciously forming a protective ring around their stricken leader.

As expected, the hike to the surface took considerable time, but the distant sound of the air whistling through the dusty, spiderweb stone corridors spurred them onward despite their exhaustion from their earlier fighting. An hour passed by before they knew it, but between Conner's enhanced vision, able to see variations in temperature, and their extensive training in various environments, they were able to find the rubble strewn entrance to the temple. Despite the extensive pile of rock and dirt barring their path, it didn't take M'gann and Conner long to clear a path, the powerful martian holding the roof up while the kryptonian clone used his brute strength to smash through the debris. Only once they had cleared the way did she let the roof collapse behind them, sealing the temple once more.

"We'll have to mark the entrance. Hang on, I've got something in my belt." With that, Nightwing removed a little spray bottle from one of the many compartments of his belt and began to spray the stones. The liquid soon took the shape of a bat before disappearing. "It's only visible if you can see UV-radiation, like Conner."

"Or if you have a pair of goggles in that belt of yours." Conner stated, and smirked when Richard chuckled and put a hand on one of the many belt pouches. Before he could respond, Conner jerked his head to the left, his ears picking up on a sound that was becoming all too familiar to them. "More of those freaks are out here. Think they were told by their boss to investigate this place?"

"I doubt it, not with Zatanna concealing our presence, but we can't take the chance. Scatter." Richard ordered before disappearing into the trees just as the rest of his team did the same. They'd scout out the enemy group before coming up with a plan. The terrain would work to their advantage, the surrounding trees would conceal them from sight and his team was trained in the art of stealth, unlike those heavily armored brutes who would be easy to locate in the forest. _Miss Martian, disappear and give us an bird's eye view. The rest of will try to circle around them, we can't have them stumble upon the ruins and the mirror. We have to neutralize them._

As much as it sickened him and his team to consider, the rules had changed since these monsters had found their way to their world. There was no room for mercy with these beings since so far, they hadn't shown any to them, and they doubted that would change. Even so, Richard pulled his personal batarangs with some trepidation as he found himself nestled in a tree overlooking the group of monsters they were hunting. Just before he was about to throw it though, his eyes caught movement to the immediate right of the group. _We have company._

 _I see them, two humans. One is in the bushes, the other just climbed a tree and is slowly moving towards them._ M'gann replied, all business as she and the rest of the team moved in to encircle and close the jaws of their trap.

Nightwing looked at the branches and searched for the figure that M'gann was describing. He sensed rather than saw the woman higher up the tree, and looked up to see that he wasn't alone. Her attention was solely focused on the enemy below them though, which told him, at least for the moment, they were on the same side. He wasn't so arrogant as to believe that she hadn't detected his presence, the way she moved told him that she was acutely aware that he was watching her but she had other priorities.

She slowly walked over the branches as to avoid making unnecessary noises until she was directly above the group. Her gaze finding her companion in the bushes, apparently waiting for a signal, she slowly drew a sword and a dagger, her muscles tensed in preparation for her impending attack. A sentiment shared by Richard and his fellows as the word was sent through M'gann to move when their two allies did.

After the female apparently received what she was waiting for, she pounced upon her unsuspecting prey just as they jerked their heads towards the bushes, sword and dagger soon buried in the unsuspecting necks of two separate victims. A third was felled by a throwing knife that flew out of the bushes, not even a second later an armored human followed his projectile into the battle.

 _Not bad for an old man._ Artemis quipped as she began raining crossbow bolts down on the enemies below, laying three out flat in no time while Conner and M'gann mopped up any stragglers that tried to slip their trap. Between them, it was over as quickly as it began.

"And I had a fire wall spell all ready to go too." Zatanna dryly stated, smirking despite the fact she hadn't gotten a chance to participate in the fight. Dinah only chuckled in response as she fell in beside the sorceress.

Coming out of their respective hiding places, the older male slowly stood to his full height, having buried his sword in the back of one of the creatures. Retrieving it, the man nodded his thanks to the youths that had aided him and his young charge. "Greetings, I have to say in all my time traveling Thedas I have never seen beings such as you, nor garments like the ones you wear. Might I ask your names and why one among you carries the taint within him?" The older man asked them politely, his stance apparently relaxed but Dick knew that was just an illusion, he would be ready to fight them in a split second should it prove necessary.

"You can sense it?" Richard asked instead, surprised by this bit of news.

"Indeed. My name is Duncan, a Grey Warden." At their puzzled looks, the older man raised an eyebrow. "You have not heard of the fabled Grey Wardens before?"

"No." Conner bluntly replied.

"We're….not from around here." Zatanna lamely continued, none of them having really considered that they'd need a cover story so soon out of the gate.

"That much is obvious." He replied, amused. "But I imagine that if you are here, then you seek the aid of the Wardens for your companion."

"Yeah, that'd be the gist of it." Richard replied, deciding to speak for himself before one of his friends could do it for him. To that end, he was the first to come up with a version of the truth, one that would hopefully stave off the man's suspicions, at least for a while. "These things have invaded our homeland. We've never come across anything like them before, and we need any information we can get."

"Then you are in luck young man. It is the Grey Wardens' sole duty to eliminate the darkspawn, wherever they appear. I fear however, that your arrival coincides with the beginning of a Blight."

"A what now?" Artemis asked, annoyed at the cryptic response.

"Your land must have been truly fortunate to never have even _heard_ stories of a Blight." The thus far silent woman replied, unlike her companion she still had her weapons in hand, and her whole demeanor appeared far more distrusting. Even her face was concealed from their prying eyes, hidden beneath the shadows of the dark hood she wore. "A very long tale short, it's an invasion by these abominations." The woman continued before viciously kicking one of the dead 'darkspawn'. "They gather on the surface, and ravage everything in their path."

"It is...a bit more complicated than that, but that is indeed the basics of a Blight." Duncan hesitantly explained, before seeming to come to a decision of his own. "If you wish to know more, and how to survive what has started to ravage your body, you would be wise to follow us to Ostagar. There, I and my fellow Grey Wardens will do what we can to save you before you become the very creatures we hunt. But to do that, you must be willing to become one of us, for I fear that this is the only cure known. It is….not an easy choice to make, I am aware, but those are your options at present."

"Not much of a choice, but we'll follow you at least." Richard replied, making no promises one way or the other. Duncan only nodded, having expected as much before turning towards the southwest. Richard and the others shared a look, shrugged, and fell in behind the man and his companion. With no other paths open to them, what did they have to lose?


	5. Something Dark This Way Comes

**Chapter 5:  Something Dark This Way Comes**

**On the edge of the Brecilian Forest...**

"Just what _is_ a Grey Warden?" Dinah asked shortly after they began to leave what Duncan had called the Brecilian Forest. Having been on the edge of the ancient woods, it didn't take them long to see open fields and gently rolling hills before them, dotted with the occasional tree and bush. "From what you've said so far, I understand that they make it their sole mission and duty to take down these darkspawn, but I get the impression there's more to it than that."

"You'd be correct, Dinah was it?" The older blonde nodded and smiled in response, having gone through introductions after leaving the dead darkspawn behind. "I'm afraid I can't tell you exactly what you wish to know, because the Wardens guard our secrets quite closely, but rest assured, we do what we must to ensure this world never falls to their corruption. For time immemorial, we have stood as the only ones capable of stopping a Blight once it begins, and while our ranks have dwindled with time, we still stand watch over all of Thedas."

"It sounds like you have quite the history." Richard stated rather than asked.

"We do." Duncan replied solemnly. "Thousands of years of tales of valor, duty, and sacrifice are tied with the Wardens. We have watched and waited, have trained and died, to destroy the darkspawn wherever they appear."

"Save the history lesson, we have a long way to go before we reach Ostagar." Morwen muttered darkly before running ahead of the group. They shared a concerned look while Duncan only sighed.

"You'll have to forgive my companion. Morwen has been through a great deal in the last week." Duncan hesitantly explained once she was out of earshot. He didn't consider it his place to tell them the whole story, and he had far more pressing concerns on his mind anyway.

 _I sensed a great deal of sorrow and rage before Morwen stormed off. I can't be sure on the cause, but I'd be willing to make a few educated guesses._ M'gann stated, earning a collection of silent nods from her companions. Having disguised herself as a Caucasian woman upon leaving the temple, neither Duncan or Morwen were the wiser as to her true nature. Still, that was a distant concern to her at that moment as she kept her mind open to their surroundings, hoping she'd be able to sense anymore darkspawn before they ambushed them. That had the unfortunate side effect of letting her pick up on Morwen's emotional state. _I'd be careful if you try and press for answers from her. Also, I'm pretty sure it's obvious Duncan's hiding something._

 _What gave you that idea?_ Conner retorted, his blue eyes on the man's back. _Still, he did say he had a way of helping Dick. I didn't hear his heart speed up, so I'm willing to give this guy a chance. Besides he's only keeping the secrets of his order, not that much different from us when we're asked about the League._

 _Good point. Still, there's something weird going on here._ Artemis grumbled, but she had to give the super clone a nod of agreement. She didn't trust anyone though, not at first, so that wasn't saying much in her case.

 _That's not saying a lot in our experience. This is just the darkest._ Richard replied, his mind going over all that they'd done since forming their little team. They had gone up against aliens, demons, mad sorcerers, and more. This was just another day in their insane lives. All of them had to agree with his assessment, since they had done quite a bit over the years. _But I agree, there's something going on in that guy's head. Something that would have been right at home with Bruce._

 _And you?_ Zatanna asked, earning a resigned sigh from the youngest of their group.

 _Point taken._ Nightwing admitted, knowing it would be futile to try to convince them otherwise. It had been his fault that M'gann had lashed out against Kaldur during the undercover mission, for not telling her and the rest of the team of what he and only a select few had known about at the time. But at that time he had been convinced that it was necessary, to provide Artemis and Kaldur the cover they needed to succeed in their assigned tasks. Now though, he knew better, even if it had had the unexpected side effect of giving the martian a much needed reality check after she got over the guilt of attacking one of their own by mistake.

 _It wasn't your fault Richard. You did what you thought was right._ The martian all but whispered in their collective minds, a part of her glad that Kaldur wasn't with them in this latest mission.

 _What's right and what someone deems necessary are two different things M'gann. Something that I didn't appreciate at the time._ Richard replied, his own brand of guilt and regret filtering through the telepathic link as his shoulders slumped.

 _You don't have to apologize. We understand._ Conner assured him. _This will be over before you know it, and we all can go home._

Nightwing raised an eyebrow at the unusually positive outlook the half-kryptonian had shared with them. Usually Conner was one of the first to denounce their chances. He was the realist of their group, the blunt, honest one. He didn't hold back his opinion, no matter how harsh it might turn out to be. _Heh, I thought you'd be the last one to cheer us up._

 _Things change, sometimes for the better._ Superboy replied, a small smile on his face as he turned to look at Miss Martian.

 _So this is what it's like to have team speak in your head. Not much different from having Martian Manhunter's variation_ , a _side from all the obvious teenage hormones flying around._ Dinah chimed in, earning her an array of amused chuckles and dirty looks for her comment. What she had to say next though took the brief cheer right out of the air around them. _But I'm glad to 'hear' that you've grown so close to each other despite the hardships you've had to endure. You're going to need that unity before this is over._

 _Way to kill the mood, boss._ Artemis complained.

 _I do what I can._ Dinah replied, shooting the bronze armored clad hero a wry smirk before turning her gaze back to the path ahead of them. She was relieved that Morwen had decided to rejoin them, seeing the robed woman at Duncan's side once more. He was the only one she talked to for a prolonged time, though Canary had noticed her watching over Nightwing whenever he had a coughing fit. They were still few and far between, but the last report she had gotten from J'onn said it would get bad before he'd start to devolve into one of the same creatures they'd been fighting for the better part of a day. She honestly hoped Duncan had told them the truth, she didn't want to be the one to tell Bruce they'd failed.

"Is something on your mind?" Duncan asked her, his eyes fixed on hers and it was obvious that the man had his own suspicions. He was more observant than she had given him credit for. Something she hoped to avoid in the future.

"I just fear for my friend's continued well being." Dinah replied honestly. It was a sentiment shared by them all.

"I understand. He seems like a strong lad, stronger than most I've come across. Of course, the same can be said for yourself and your allies." Duncan said calmly, his face betraying nothing.

"We've had to become that way with the life we've led." Dinah answered the unspoken question about their training and abilities.

Duncan nodded, having expected such a response. "I gathered as much. You are no stranger to hardships, of making the difficult choices no one else is willing or capable of. Otherwise, you wouldn't have faced the darkspawn and survived."

"I follow someone that does that far better than me, the one that was...tainted, as you called it, is his son." Black Canary admitted, though Duncan didn't seem surprised to hear that Richard wasn't her son.

"I _am_ right here you know." Dick grunted, but shrugged it off.

"I am aware." Duncan retorted, an amused gleam entering his eyes again before he sobered just as quickly. Turning his attention to Dinah once more, the older man continued. "But you trust this man with your life. That much is obvious. The fact he has allowed this journey into a strange land to save his son however, speaks volumes of his character, that he is willing to do all he can to keep his family alive."

Dinah could only nod her head in response. "You're right on all points. You sound like you've dealt with a lot of people like that."

It was Duncan's turn to reply with some hesitation. "I am….well traveled."

"And he has a lot of unique friends himself." Morwen commented from the side, surprising everyone with her unexpected participation in the conversation. Though not an unwelcome change if the expression on Duncan's face was anything to go by.

"She speaks." Artemis commented dryly.

"She also has a huge Mabari willing to bite one's head off." Morwen growled back.

"What's a Mabari, and where's _yours_ exactly? I don't see it." Artemis retorted, grinning widely in open challenge to the woman ahead of her. "Guess you must have hit your head when you jumped outta that tree."

"That would explain why you wear a mask. Must be to hide your ugly face." Morwen retorted sharply, her hand straying to the dagger on her hip.

Artemis glared back at the hooded woman before she smirked. "Yeah, we'll get along just fine."

"Do you always antagonize people you just met?" Duncan asked, feeling a headache creeping up behind his eyes. _Alistair is going to just like these strange people._

"Yes." The rest of the team answered before Artemis had the chance to retort.

"And to answer your earlier question." Morwen began before whistling sharply. A few moments later, the pounding of feet on the ground could be heard before the largest dog they had ever seen burst out of the underbrush. Wolf was, well, a wolf, so he didn't count as a dog, but he would have made Morwen's animal a chew toy. Even so, the Mabari was still bigger than most breeds back home, but their doubt was quickly put to rest as the creature jumped and barked excitedly around Morwen's legs. She knelt and scratched the top of the creature's head, before chuckling when it licked her face rapidly. "Down Shadow! You're embarrassing me."

The Mabari obediently sat on his hindquarters, and looked up at the woman, quietly wagging his tail.

"Shadow? That's an...interesting name." Dinah said in an attempt to keep the conversation going.

"When he was a pup he always followed me around, like a shadow, hence the name. A Mabari imprints on one person, and never leaves their side." Morwen explained before standing to her feet. As if on some unspoken command, Shadow did the same. "He has been a loyal friend, one of the few I trust without question."

As innocent as the story had started it ended on a sour note, something everyone picked up on, though they lacked the details to deduce what had happened. The underlying message however was clear, 'I don't trust you.' Still, the Mabari seemed interested in them, even if his master wasn't so trusting. Dinah wasn't the only one that got the impression the brown furred beast was examining them, making his own, simple opinions about them in his own way. "Is there something special about Mabari?" Dinah asked, curious about the subtle gleam she could see in the dog's gaze. A suspicion that only deepened when Shadow barked, as if to say 'yes' to her question.

"The Mabari are far more intelligent than most dog breeds. They are said to have been made by Tevinter experiments, to make a loyal war hound that responds to verbal commands. They inadvertently lost control of their creations, the Mabari choosing their now Ferelden masters because they were not cruel to them as the magisters were. It is said that the Mabari are smart enough to speak, and intelligent enough not to." Duncan explained, earning him another bark, again as if Shadow was agreeing with the Grey Warden. "My point exactly."

"So he can understand what we're saying?" Dinah asked, that was new, even for them. In response, the large hound softly nudged her leg and looked up at her with his adorable brown eyes.

"Oh no you don't. No Shadow, you can't beg them to give you more food." Morwen chastised the beast when she realized what he was up to, but her tone was soft and gentle, not harsh. His reaction only reinforced the idea there was a lot more going on behind his round face than appearances suggested.

Shadow briefly looked at her before returning his attention to Dinah before he whined at her. "I have nothing to give you, you big furball. You'll have to bark up another tree." Dinah replied, chuckling as she scratched behind the animal's ears. Shadow sniffed the air and his eyes zeroed in on Artemis.

"Don't even think about it." Artemis growled, which Shadow returned, much to the archer's surprise. "Someone's got a bad attitude."

"He's a war hound still, despite his cute and cuddly appearance." Morwen retorted, a just noticeable grin audible in her voice. "Threaten him or me and he'll likely rip an arm off."

"Cute and cuddly?" Artemis asked and looked at the muscle packed growling war hound. "I can see what you mean." She sarcastically muttered and crossed her arms in annoyance.

"I think he's cute." 'Megan' butted in, garnering her a happy bark from the Mabari before it bounded away and looked up into her beaming face. Morwen was surprised by Shadow's reaction, having not expected him to go to someone else's side so quickly like that if he wasn't begging for scraps. The martian knelt down and rubbed at the beast's sides, having picked up the habit from playing with Wolf, Conner's own loyal companion.

"He likes you, that's unusual, but he is an excellent judge of character." Morwen told the martian, her voice sounding a bit more friendlier than before.

"Megan has a thing for animals." Conner stated bluntly, but smirked down at her and the dog. "But she probably got that from me. I have a giant wolf back home, kinda like your Mabari, just….bigger."

"He picks up strays like some people collect stamps." Richard chimed in, grinning subtly at the scoff his comment got from the clone, even if it was true. Wolf and his 'Super Cycle' had grown quite attached to the clone, and the bond went both ways.

"I think I would like to meet your wolf one day." Morwen softly said, apparently the knowledge that she was talking to a fellow 'war hound' keeper put her more at ease, or she didn't think that he could lie convincingly. "What's his name?"

"Wolf." Conner said with a shrug.

"No imagination, but it oddly fits you." Morwen replied, and gave him a surprisingly approving nod. Shadow had since walked back to her side, and she gave him a quick pat on the head before nodding towards Duncan. Once they were on their way again, the silence that fell over the group wasn't quite as uncomfortable as before. It was a nice change.

The tension returned when Richard dared to ask the question that was on everyone's mind. "Why are we going to Ostagar?" By 'we', he meant Duncan and Morwen, but that was starting to include himself and his allies.

"You haven't heard of the gathering that King Cailan has called." Duncan stated rather than asked, having gotten used to the oddity of these people not knowing anything of Ferelden.

"The ruler of this land I take it." Richard stated in turn as he nimbly jumped over a fallen log that was in the center of the road. Zatanna simply climbed over it, but Conner pushed it out of the way, allowing the rest of the group to pass without having to jump over the obstacle.

Duncan observed them, and said nothing on the matter. Instead he focused on the question itself. "Indeed. He has gathered an army to destroy the darkspawn horde that has gathered in the Korcari Wilds. Ostagar has held against many such invasions, and it is our hope that it will survive this one. Unfortunately, few believe that this is a true Blight."

"What's the difference?" Zatanna asked, having a feeling they knew the answer to her question. She had heard the being through the mirror, had felt the power it brought to bear against her. She dreaded meeting the creature behind the voice.

"The difference is that a true Blight has what we call an Archdemon at its head. An unifying force that bends the darkspawn to its twisted purpose. The Archdemon calls them to its side, and a Blight can only be ended by its death." Duncan intoned, his tone grave, and again the team got the impression that he was hiding something, but this time it felt far more personal for some reason.

The team shared another subtle glance between them, but they said nothing once more.

"You are obviously not from around here, you said so yourself, but where do you hail from?" Morwen asked the group.

"I doubt that you've heard of it, but we _hail_ from the city of Gotham." Artemis retorted, earning her an annoyed hiss from Richard for yet again being the antagonizing woman she normally was. Before he could reprimand her though, she shot a look over her shoulder that had him stumbling over his own tongue. "To be fair though we haven't heard anything about Ferelden either."

"Don't know how you couldn't have. Ferelden and the neighboring country of Orlais aren't exactly small." Morwen muttered in response.

"Well, we are a _long_ way from home." Richard told her, which wasn't even a lie, he just left out the part where they traveled dimensions through a magic mirror.

In response, Morwen slightly inclined her head, the action only visible through the pale moonlight that was reflected off her dark hood.

It was here that Duncan stopped and swept his gaze over the strangers before letting his eyes linger on Zatanna. Despite a valiant effort on her part, she was the one he noted that could hardly stand. The rest of them were equally tired, giving him incentive enough to stop for the remainder of the night. "We'll have to make camp here. I do not wish us to arrive half dead before the battle even begins."

"I can keep goi-" Zatanna protested but her heavy breathing showed that she was in no condition to walk any further.

"I admire your effort, but whether guided for concern for your friend or something else, I am not about to put anyone in needless peril." His tone suggested he wasn't about to change his mind.

"I'll scout the area." Morwen simply announced and vanished into the woods, her loyal Mabari not far behind her. Richard raised an eyebrow at her sudden departure. She hadn't made any noise when she disappeared into the forest, making it obvious she was even more skilled at stealth then he first thought.

Whatever his thoughts on the matter, he didn't get much of a chance to ponder it before Dinah gently nudged him to sit down. "Zatanna isn't the only one dead on her feet." Was all the explanation she offered before moving on to collect enough dry wood and brush to make a fire. He didn't argue since as much as he hated to admit it, he was almost as exhausted as everyone else was. Perhaps more so no thanks to the taint, a fact that irked him to no end. He was used to intense physical exertions from his life as Batman's protege, and here he was almost collapsing after a night of fighting and walking. So he found himself on an old stump, looking at the star strewn sky. It didn't take him long to realize that he didn't recognize any of the constellations, only confirming they weren't on Earth anymore.

With a sigh, he barely twitched an eyebrow when Morwen reappeared beside him, having circled around their chosen camping site. "Nothing save for some wagon tracks leading further south. Likely more soldiers heading to Ostagar and refugees fleeing from the darkspawn." He didn't say anything, but he didn't let his gaze wander away from the robed woman. He got the impression she was almost disappointed that her search of the perimeter turned up nothing more than she had reported.

He didn't get a chance to ask why when he felt rather than saw Artemis standing behind him as Morwen moved on. "You get the impression she's hiding more than her face?" The archer asked once she was out of earshot as she laid out a handful of moss and dry leaves into a makeshift bedroll before unbuckling her katana's sheath from her back. Once it was laying within easy reach on the ground next to her, the blonde slowly pulled her tigress mask away and set that down as well before plopping down on her back on the moss.

"Yeah." Was all Richard would say on the matter as he looked towards Conner and M'gann, seeing they were busy with their own preparations. "But we're not exactly ones to talk about keeping secrets are we?" He asked once he saw that Dinah was helping Zatanna set up a temporary spot to sleep.

"No, but just thought I'd point out the obvious." Artemis said before rolling away, her hand wrapped loosely around her blade's hilt. He couldn't blame her for her paranoia, not out here, potentially surrounded by enemies.

He would have stayed awake a little longer, but before he even could properly finish his own makeshift bed he more or less collapsed in exhaustion. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed were Dinah and Duncan quietly talking with each other, the light of the small fire throwing their shadows across the ground.

Dinah had opted to take first watch with the Warden, knowing without having to be told that they were all exhausted. She wasn't any exception, but she had worked long hours with Oliver, so going without sleep after fighting criminals in Starling City was an easy task for her. While the same thing could be said for the team, one of them had magically exhausted herself to the point of falling from the sky, another had almost been mentally overwhelmed, and a third was being taken down by the plague the darkspawn brought with them. That wasn't even taking into account the injuries Conner had sustained, and was likely still recovering from despite his protests to the contrary, during the initial attack in Arkham. Artemis was the only one that had escaped relatively unharmed, as she had herself, but Dinah was still worried about them all.

"You truly are a tightly bound 'family' of sorts, aren't you Dinah?" The sonic screamer could only nod in response to Duncan's question. "I gathered as much from what I've seen for myself. You've seen many hardships, many trials together. But you seem the odd one out."

Dinah raised an eyebrow at that, having not expected Duncan to be that observant. Seeing no point in lying, she nodded again. "That's because they are their own 'family'. I'm part of another, but I helped train them, prepare them for what they'd be facing on their own."

"Preparing the young for what lies ahead of them is an admirable goal. But I get the feeling that the dangers you are used to greatly differ from those we face." Duncan complimented her, his eyes staring into the flames in front of them.

"In a way you'd be right. We've never come across anything like these darkspawn before." They had faced plenty of enemies certainly, but the monsters Duncan and his order contended with were something else altogether. Dinah wasn't foolish enough to believe otherwise, not after what she'd seen in Gotham. Not after seeing Zatanna's report on what she'd seen and experienced just trying to find the portal. "I've seen a lot as a warrior for my homeland, but these darkspawn, they're something else. Something I never would have imagined in my darkest dreams." She didn't admit that easily, but there it was. "Which reminds me, how does your order fight them if they can taint everything they touch?"

"I cannot tell you the details, only that we have found a way to make ourselves immune to their taint. But it comes at a heavy price."

"I don't like the sound of that." Despite her growing fear of what exactly was in store for Richard, Dinah couldn't help but feel that a part of the man before didn't want to keep it a secret, whatever _it_ was. Perhaps the Wardens were indeed like the League in some respects, keeping only those secrets that the general population weren't prepared to handle.

"If there were another way, I would gladly show it to you. However, as it is-" Duncan began before he fixed his eyes on the sleeping Morwen, who had suddenly tensed up in her sleep. He looked at her with a sad, knowing look on his face as if he knew what were to come.

Morwen tense body suddenly began to thrash wildly, but she didn't scream, even in her sleep she maintained an impressive control over her reactions. Dinah had gotten up to wake up the young woman who was obviously plagued by nightmares but Duncan's hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Don't, it is dangerous to go near her."

Before the heroine got the chance to ask him what he meant by that Morwen sprung up, and in a fluid motion had drawn her weapons. If Dinah had tried to wake her like she had intended she would have been skewered. A few moments no sound was audible aside from the heavy breathing of the cloaked woman. After calming down a little she sheathed both her weapons and bowed lightly in their direction. "My apologies."

"No, you've obviously been through much more than Duncan let on." Dinah replied, waving off Morwen's apologies. Before she could ask what had happened however, she had laid back down and rolled away, her back to the heroine and the Warden. Turning to Duncan, Dinah's inquisitive gaze only got a shrug in response. "You aren't going to tell me what happened are you?"

"It is not my story to tell. But I understand your desire to help, for it is born from the same place as my own, even if our methods are different. Unfortunately, I fear time and gaining her trust will be the only way she'll begin to find who she once was, or allowing anyone close to her again." Duncan stated, once again making it plain that he wasn't going to speak further on the subject.

Dinah respected his decision because if their roles were ever reversed, then she wouldn't tell him any personal information about her charges either. Looking towards the forms huddled a little ways from the fire, Dinah sincerely hoped they'd all make it through whatever was on the horizon. So caught up in her worry for the team, she almost missed Duncan's question to her. "You aren't from Thedas at all, are you?" She jerked her gaze towards the older man, and his rueful smile was all she need to see that the jig was up. "I suspected as much. I ran into an ancient elven artifact while seeking the Dalish clans that make the Brecilian Forest their home. I found a young man that had come into contact with said object, a mirror, that had been corrupted by the darkspawn. I have heard tales of such things, that they allowed the elven kingdoms of old to communicate across vast distances, and according to the elven man I sent to Ostagar ahead of me, a friend of his disappeared into the mirror. Which means you have likely come through a similar object."

"Well, guess there's no point in trying to conceal it any longer." Dinah replied and rubbed the back of her neck in mild embarrassment at having been discovered so easily.

"Perhaps not. But I would refrain from telling anyone else about your origins." Duncan dryly advised though his eyes sparked with humor as he imagined the reactions to such a revelation.

"I guessed that already. You're a few years behind us, to put it kindly." Dinah replied, a hint of amusement in her gaze before it disappeared. "But yes, we're not from Thedas. We didn't lie when we said the darkspawn had assaulted our world. We really do need your help, and that of your Wardens apparently, but it sounds like you have your own problems. I can't speak for them, but I can't sit back and let these things overrun this world."

"But you believe they'll say the same as yourself." Duncan observed without much difficulty.

"Yes, that's just how they are. They're good kids….good young adults I should say. I've known them for a long time. I know most of their families, where they came from, I know them well enough to say they'll stand beside you if you ask." Dinah agreed to the Grey Wardens statement with a nod.

"I cannot speak for your home, but I fear before all of this is over a lot of children will be forced to grow up fast." Duncan intoned sadly, his gaze full of regret.

"I fear that the same applies to our home." Dinah admitted as she leaned forward, her hands held out towards the flames. "But we've all had to overcome a great deal over the years. I know they're up for the challenge."

"I sincerely hope so, for their sakes as well as your own." Duncan intoned grimly his previously neutral expression turning sour.

Unbeknownst to them, Morwen had also overheard a great deal. While it was surprising to hear they were from another world, she had heard many tales about the Fade and the mages that drew their power from it. Magic was capable of almost anything, so why not a doorway to other worlds? After all she'd endured, she was willing to believe anything was possible. And these people were honorable if they were willing to risk their lives for a world that was not their own. She could somewhat relate, her parents had made sure that she understood that duty came before all else. Duty was almost more important than her own desires no matter how justified their reasons were. She would help to defeat the darkspawn, she owed it to the people of Highever. She had already failed to protect them once, she wouldn't do so again. Her family lay dead by the hands of a traitor. She would find her own justice since the world was an unfair place.

**The next morning….**

Zatanna groaned as she put a hand to the small of her back. "I've never been a fan of 'roughing it'. I'm a city girl." She muttered, but was happy to see everyone around her looked much better for having gotten some sleep. Except Nightwing, he looked paler than the day before and the coughing had gotten more frequent, even in his sleep. But as predictably as ever, he tried to make light of it and act stronger than he was.

But to Zatanna's surprise, Morwen tried to take care of the stubborn hero. "Hold still." She menacingly growled while trying to shove a spoonful of rabbit stew into his mouth. An action that was almost impossible to accomplish due to his squirming. "I dump this down your shirt and you'll be sorry."

"I can do this myself you know." Dick grumbled after forcefully swallowing the mouthful she had managed to slip past his lips.

"Be glad you have someone even considering assisting you." Morwen told him bluntly, for a moment reminded of how Orren always complained too when he was sick.

"Wow, breakfast in bed. Someone's steppin' up their game." Artemis said, a grin plastered on her face as she strapped her katana back onto her person before putting her mask back on. "So tell us, what's it like having your own nubile slave girl?"

"Nubile?" Morwen asked, chuckling despite the insult as she looked towards the young blonde. "I take it women fall over your friend here?"

"In a manner of speaking." Megan chimed in, much to Richard's mortification as he slapped a hand over his face. Conner chuckled but said nothing, taking some measure of pity on the man.

Morwen eyes zeroed in on Conner beneath the shadow of her hood. "You, when he finally _is_ done eating you will carry him."

"No he won't be." Richard stated, not about to endure that humiliation if he could help it.

"Sorry Dick, lady's orders." Conner retorted as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. ""Sides, the sooner we get to Ostagar, the better."

"I have to agree Richard." Dinah chimed in softly, and held up a hand as she knelt down next to the pair. "You're not in the best shape, and while I know you're capable, you don't have to do this alone. That's all."

Richard's face remained unchanging as he glared as his friends turned traitor, but he sighed and took the earthen bowl from Morwen with a growl before taking the time to feed himself before she could do it for him. "Is he always this stubborn?" Morwen asked in regards to her patient. Before they could answer, Duncan started to cough violently in an obvious attempt to hide his laughter at the question.

They all jumped when a new voice echoed from the nearby trees. "I was wondering if I'd catch up with you Duncan." The Grey Warden smiled as a woman in deep blue robes trimmed in red entered their camp. Morwen said nothing as the mage, her staff held aloft in her right hand, made her way into the assorted group. Black hair that came to her shoulders, deep brown eyes, and a face that was apparently made for smiling since it seemed she was privy to a joke only she understood. She was tall, almost towering over Duncan himself even in his formidable silverite armor. "I'm glad to see we had the same idea, stopping in Lothering on the way to our deaths. Good plan."

Duncan chuckled and gestured to the woman before him. "Let me introduce Alexandria Amell, conscript to the Grey Wardens, and mage of the Circle here in Ferelden."

" _Ex-mage_ of the Circle, thanks to this gentleman. The templars really didn't want to let me go, must be my irresistible personality." Alexandria replied before letting her gaze sweep over the group that Duncan had found on his travels. "New friends? Where'd you find these people?"

"That's...a long story Lady Amell. Suffice it to say, you could safely argue they found myself and Morwen." Duncan replied before sharing a look with Dinah, who subtly nodded her understanding. She remembered well his request she didn't spread knowledge of their arrival through the Eluvian.

"Morwen? One of my soon to be sister in arms? Glad to meet you." Alexandria exclaimed cheerfully and smiled and the hooded woman.

"It is nice to meet you as well, Lady Amell." Morwen replied, remembering one of the many lessons of etiquette her mother had forced her to attend. And if Duncan knew and trusted her enough to conscript her then she would trust her, at least to a certain degree.

Alexandria chuckled and waved Morwen's formality off with a shake of her head. "I'm no Lady, as you're well aware I'm sure. That's just Duncan being the gentleman he is. Being able to set the house on fire with a stray thought tends to land you in trouble among the real nobility. Just call me Alex, everyone else did back at the Circle." Letting her brown eyes fall on Zatanna, Alex's eyebrows shot to her forehead in surprise. "I wasn't aware you had found another mage Duncan."

"You're not too bad yourself Alex." Zatanna replied, amazed she'd been found out so easily.

"Your magic feels different from mine, but I'd recognize a fellow practitioner even in that getup. Not a bad outfit though." Alex replied, nodding her approval of the white and black magician's outfit Zatanna favored on a normal day. "I know a templar though who would most likely collapse upon seeing you in that."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Zatanna asked, unable to keep the interest out of her voice.

"Definitely good." Alex chuckled as she grinned widely. "Cullen….nice man, shy as a blushing virgin, but a kind man, unlike most templars."

"There are far too few 'good' templars." Morwen commented bitterly, contempt present in every syllable before she rounded on the magician. "You could have mentioned you were a mage before."

"I wasn't aware it'd be a problem." Zatanna retorted back, her hands on her hips as she leaned forward.

"It would have been if we met some templars and they had decided to check for apostates." Morwen growled out, her hands clenching into bloodless fists.

"Illegal mages, outside of a Circle. Few are those that trust a mage who isn't shackled to one by a blood filled phylactery." Alex explained, her brown eyes losing their shine as unpleasant memories flashed behind her face.

Morwen snorted derisively. "And that isn't hypocritical at all. They condemn blood magic and yet use it themselves. For nothing short of slavery."

Alex looked at the cloaked woman in surprise. "You have unusual views on the mage 'problem'. And you know a lot about the subject."

"I was well educated." Morwen responded shortly.

"So you're nobility. That explains the education." Alex replied, but instinctively backed off the subject when Morwen looked up ever so slightly, her barely visible shining blue eyes hiding something dark and dangerous, something that warned her to press further would be bad for her health. Instead she turned to Zatanna, her own brown orbs peering inquisitively at the raven haired woman. "Every mage knows this, so it puzzles me as to why you wouldn't. Are you from the Korcari Wilds perhaps? The clothes say otherwise, but you could have easily stole them I suppose."

"Does it matter, we're all heading in the same direction." Artemis grumbled, eager to get on their way.

"I suppose not. It's still nice to meet a fellow in magic out here though. Let us proceed before we miss out on all the fun." Alex conceded and nodded at Artemis.

"Same to you Alex." Zatanna replied before turning to Richard as he got to his feet. "Conner?"

"Already on it. Come on Dick." Alex smirked as Richard groaned but was thrown over the super clone's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Ran into darkspawn I take it?" Alex asked, shivering despite the amusement in her voice as she swept her gaze over the dark clad hero and his pale face.

"Yeah, long story." Dick grumbled as Conner started forward, unable to look anywhere but behind the clone as he fell in with the rest of the group. It was an unusual sight, but most of his friends managed to keep a straight face as Dick propped his head up with a hand under his chin, already bored out of his mind with being treated like a sack needing to be carried.

"Don't worry, they die like everything else. If you find yourself in a tight spot without magic, go for the weak points. Throat, eyes, testicles if they got 'em. Their bones break just as easily as that of an ordinary human." Morwen said in an attempt to calm the other warden recruit.

"Thanks for that, that wasn't terrifying at all." Artemis grunted as Shadow ran into the back of her legs before darting to Morwen's side. "Stupid mutt, watch it will ya?"

"That stupid mutt just stole some of your trail rations." Artemis immediately jerked her hand to her belt only to pull it away when it came back, covered in slobber. Morwen merely smirked over her shoulder while Shadow chowed down on the move, looking all too proud of himself.

"Clever boy." Artemis grudgingly admitted. "Might have to leave a dart trap back there next time." Shadow whined pitifully at the threat, making the archer grin in response. "Maybe it'll teach ya not to stick your snout where it doesn't belong then furball." Artemis stated as she crossed her arms and smirked down at the muscular dog, who returned the gesture by stopping and giving her his best whipped puppy look he could manage. "Nice try, but I'm immune."

"Does anyone else find it weird Artemis is talking to the dog?" Conner asked, earning him a shrug from Richard for his trouble.

"I don't know, it's certainly an improvement from the usual growling we get." Megan chimed in next, but the moment she closed her mouth, she found herself staring at Shadow who had raced over to her as soon as she began to defend him and his 'conversation'. She happily ran a hand across his head, earning her a bark of approval before Shadow ran back to Morwen's side.

"Besides, our standards for weird are hard to meet. This is just one of many things I've come to accept in the last few years." Zatanna said with a shrug of her own.

"Are they _always_ like this?" Alex asked Dinah, who chuckled and nodded her head. "Just thought I'd ask."

"You get used to it." Dinah replied, the tension forgotten for the moment once again.

The next few hours saw them talking about Ferelden in general, their beliefs, the different countries, how it all came together, and many other subjects that came up. It was truly enlightening, to say the least, but their conversation came to an end when they crested yet another hill, and they came across a village in the distance, a little out of their way according to their inexhaustible guide.

"Ah Lothering, a speck on the map, but the only village between here and Ostagar. We'll need to stop off for supplies, but I have some relatives that might be willing to put up with us for the night. The only problem is I haven't actually met them before….." Alex admitted doubtfully, the first hint of true fear having filled the woman's brown eyes before she hurriedly looked away.

"I am certain that they will be delighted to see you, they are family after all." Morwen said to the other woman and hesitantly put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Considering my own family turned me over to the templars, that isn't saying a lot." Alex whispered before pulling away from Morwen's hand on her shoulder.

"To be honest, I don't think they were given a choice." Morwen pointed out.

"Perhaps….but it doesn't make it better." Alex muttered quietly in reply.

"Nothing ever will." Richard stated as he wriggled free of Conner's grasp, having had enough of riding on the big man's shoulder. "I know that better than most." Everyone that knew him immediately knew what he was referring to, but Duncan, Morwen, and Alex were left looking at the young man's back in open puzzlement as he took a few steps forward before spinning on his heel, his face unreadable. "Except perhaps those you trust to watch your back, no matter what you are or where you came from. The point being, we've all come through a lot to get this far. If you're willing to take the risk Alex, we're willing to stand behind you, wherever this ends up going." The collection of nods from his friends was all the reassurance the mage needed as she regarded him in a new light.

"Are you sure you're the youngest one here?" Alex asked at last, genuinely surprised by the young man's impromptu speech.

"Last time I checked." Richard replied, smirking up towards the older woman.

"And Morwen? Could you do me a favour and not kill them should they turn out be horrible bigots? I know you would do it to prove your friendship and all but….." Alexandria asked jokingly but not without trepidation, the mysterious noble had given her advice on how to kill Darkspawn with her bare hands after all.

"You have nothing to fear from me. Even if they do turn out to be spineless cowards, I would not deprive you of what family you have." Morwen replied, even as her hand wrapped around the hilt of her dagger, but it wasn't out of anger or malice. Something in her just visible luminescent blue eyes said it was something else altogether.

"Well, that's taken care of. Let's see what trouble we can get into." With that, Alex hesitantly took point besides Duncan, Richard, and Morwen.

"I'm starting to like your way of thinking Alex." Dinah chimed in as she fell in beside the mage.

"Let's hope they want us to stay, and that they have some decent alcohol." Alex joked in an attempt to ease her nervousness. Her joke got a few chuckles out of the group as they walked through the centre of the small village. There was some activity in the village's market, unsurprising since it was almost high noon.

Everywhere they looked, there were signs of people either preparing to leave for places further up north or already in the process of fleeing as carriages and wagons filed past them. Some filled with refugees fleeing, others were full of supplies and were headed towards Ostagar. It wasn't too surprising, not if the darkspawn were as terrifying as Duncan had made them out to be. Either way, the few wagons that were leaving Lothering were nothing compared to the amount of soldiers heading towards the distant fortress. "This is probably the most excitement Lothering's had for some time." Morwen quietly said, keeping her hood pulled low over her face as they proceeded through the crowd as best they could. "Small towns that lay on the borders of this land are usually ignored. Unfortunately the reason for the newfound interest in this town is hardly anything positive."

"If what we saw back home was any indication of what we're heading towards, I can't imagine why you'd say that." Artemis muttered darkly in reply. "Or why these people are in such a hurry to run for the hills."

"We need to fan out, we'll be able to move a lot more freely in smaller numbers. Meet in the market in two hours time." Richard stated, wanting to get their tasks complete as soon as possible so they could continue on.

"Agreed. But be careful." Duncan stated, before making his way to the nearest vendor. They had a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. "Alex, if you would be so kind and locate your relatives and a place to stay for today, I would be most grateful."

"Of course, I'll just ask around." Alex replied before nodding to Artemis. There was no way she'd go anywhere without a friend to watch her back. Not with templars around. They wouldn't believe her if she said she was with the Grey Wardens. Artemis caught the hint and soon stood beside the mage, having needed no explanation after hearing how mages were treated in this world.

"Morwen, please see to it that our companions are suitable dressed for the coming battle." Duncan told the dark clad woman. The only one that looked remotely ready for battle was the archer, Artemis, and even then he'd have felt better if she had more than her small crossbow on hand.

"Alright. Let's go Dick, Conner. The rest of you, either you're with me, Alex, or Duncan. We're burning daylight." With that, Morwen started away to another part of the bustling market square with Richard, Shadow, and Conner in tow.

"Who's in charge again?" Artemis asked, but didn't argue further as she, Alex, and Dinah went towards the north, where a number of houses and farms were located.

That left Duncan with Zatanna and Megan. The Grey Warden nodded before making his way to the inn, hoping perhaps there would be another merchant that would be far less busy, where he could purchase supplies for the rest of the trip. While he was sure the King's army would give them what they'd need, he didn't want to take the chance they'd be short handed. At least there was no reason to worry about money, the King had assured him that he would gladly pay for his expenses. He was brought out of his thoughts when Zatanna nudged him in his side. "Yes?"

"So, King Cailan. What's he like?" She asked, genuinely curious about the man that ruled Ferelden.

"He is a good man, but he holds my order in….higher esteem than some would consider wise." Duncan admitted as they approached the inn and tavern before reaching out to hold the door open for her and Megan. "We were exiled for some time, but King Maric, Cailan's father, allowed us back into Ferelden."

"Exiled? How come?" Megan asked, surprised by this bit of news. She coughed when the smell of stale ale, body odor, and uncooked food hit her nose, and a look to her right told her Zatanna wasn't liking the smell much better. Still, they ignored it as best they could, doing their best to keep up with their guide.

"We give up our old lives, a willing sacrifice in most cases, so that we might better protect the world as a whole. But not all of us forget where we came from, the lives we leave behind. Let me simply say that one of the previous Warden Commanders did not let go of their pasts, and they attempted to take over the kingdom with their fellow Wardens."

"Then it's no surprise your order was exiled, but I'm glad someone had the wisdom to allow the Wardens back into Ferelden." Megan replied, sincerity all too easily heard in her voice, much to Duncan's silent appreciation.

"I thank you for your kind words. In recent years, my order has become more and more shunned as no one believed that the darkspawn would ever pose a threat again."

"Guess we can thank your royal fan base for believing otherwise." Zatanna quipped, and chuckled lightly when Duncan groaned at her joke.

Elsewhere, Morwen was having a similarly deep conversation as she picked up a pair of plain, gray iron daggers. Giving them an experimental twirl in her hands, she handed them off to Richard who held them out at arm's length, as if they were going to bite him. "You haven't killed another living being before have you?" She asked, noting his revulsion at what she had intended the weapons to be used for.

"Not even when we were knee deep in darkspawn in the Asylum." Conner grunted, but he didn't blame his friend for his hesitation. He hadn't liked fighting the creatures, and he'd been one of the first to suggest they'd have to get their hands bloody before it was over.

Even so, Dick wasn't so eager to jump on the bandwagon as he tried to hand the daggers back to Morwen. "And I'd rather keep it that way."

"They won't care. You either need to kill or be killed in turn." Morwen bluntly stated as she shoved his hand back, hard, pressing the weapons into his chest for good measure.

"That might be true, but I'd rather not kill at all." Richard continued to protest stubbornly even though he knew that she was right.

"Sometimes life doesn't give us a choice. Think about this, if you don't fight them with everything you have, they will slaughter you and innocent people who won't even know how to defend themselves. What scenario would you prefer?" Morwen asked him bluntly and pressed the daggers into Dick's hands.

"I get the point." Even then, he was slow in strapping the weapons onto his belt, the merchant having been kind enough to provide appropriate sheaths for the short blades which were easily looped through his belt.

Morwen saw how hard it was for Richard to take the daggers, and hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder. "You would prefer not to, I understand. Truly, I do. Despite what you might believe, I don't think that you're foolish or naive. In fact, I admire your morals and conviction, and I truly wish that you didn't have to face this dilemma. But I fear I can't undo what has happened to you."

"Yeah….so am I." Morwen blinked, having the strong impression that was directed far more at her than himself, but before she could ask, Richard had already begun to walk away. Shadow cocked his head to the side in curiosity, confused by the sudden mood shift.

Conner merely shrugged when the pair looked at him for clarification. "Don't look at me, I'm just along for the ride. But I think it's pretty obvious that was meant for you." He left out the part where he and the rest of the team were fairly certain of what Morwen was going through, and instead gestured towards the various armors that were on display. Nothing really caught his eye, but he was no expert on the subject either.

With a shake of her head, Morwen began to look for a set of armor that would fit the large young man beside her. Settling for a suit of heavy scale mail, she handed it off and a lightweight leather armor set for Richard before looking for anything else they might need. Conner didn't say a word as he was slowly weighed down by close to a dozen suits of armor and assorted weaponry, Morwen taking no chances for what laid before them.

"Oh, Artemis is going to like these." She muttered quietly to herself as she saw a few crossbow bolts that were enchanted to either freeze, burn or electrocute their target. "Just hope they can fit those cannisters she uses in that weapon of hers. Hmm, do you think she knows how to use a longbow?"

"Is that a trick question?" Conner asked as he looked over the growing pile in his arms at Morwen. "She was practically raised with a bow in her hands."

"I'll take that as a yes then." Morwen replied before dropping a heavy quiver and a bow on the pile in the clone's arms.

She looked further through the wares of the various merchants that had taken up shop in Lothering. War was profitable for them, and they tried to get as much money out of the soldiers who came through town as they could. "Hmm, who would have thought? Lyrium potions, these should prove useful for Alexandria and Zatanna."

"What's a lyrium potion?" Conner asked as he swung the armor sets over one shoulder before doing the same with the assorted dagger belts and other items Morwen had piled on him over the other.

"Magic in a bottle. It restores spent mana in mages, giving them a much needed boost in the middle of a battle." The hooded woman explained with a small shrug.

"Huh." Conner said with a shrug, a little surprised they had anything of the sort after what he'd heard about the way these people feared and hated anyone who cast spells. "Didn't think they'd care enough to supply mages with something like that."

"Wouldn't want the Chantry slaves to feel neglected." Morwen spat out in response, her intense dislike for the way mages were treated clear as day. "Don't even get me started about the Rite of Tranquility."

"Do I _want_ to know what that is?" Conner asked, getting the hint that whatever it was, it wasn't good from Morwen's tone of voice.

"Let's just say there are worse things than death for some." Was Morwen's less than ominous response. After starting away from the market, and making sure no templars were nearby to hear her, Morwen turned to Conner once more. "I had a friend, an apostate that had escaped the Circle. He harmed no one, and had even taken up a position as a traveling healer of sorts, always stopping by my home at least once every month. The templars caught up with him, dragged him back to the Circle, and made him Tranquil. I only found out about it because those same templar bastards stopped by at my family's home on their way to business elsewhere, and they needed an enchanter with them. I saw my friend among them, but he was no longer who I remembered. The Rite destroys you, renders you an emotionless drone, subservient to the mages of the Circle and the templars alike. It is a waking death, one that has no ending as far as anyone's aware. That is why I snapped on your friend as I did. It is a fate I would not have her share."

Conner was speechless, having never heard anything quite so….drastic. Sure he had heard of lobotomization but never heard of anyone going so far as to actually use it as a form of punishment and control. It went well beyond any cruelty he had heard about or fought against back home.

"Let's rejoin the others before we run into trouble." Morwen grumbled, the story about her friend obviously having put her in a bad mood. She turned around without another word and headed back to the village's main square. No one dared to stand in her and thus Connor's way. Inwardly he was impressed. He knew only two others who could bring people to move out of the way simply by glaring at them, Batman and Nightwing. He wasn't sure if he enjoyed the idea of such a similarity between Morwen and Dick, or if it unsettled him, deeply.

"Your friend, Zatanna, Alexandria mentioned that her magic feels different." Morwen said to Conner without turning around. The clone was surprised by suddenly being addressed. "Does that mean that she doesn't have to ward off demons in her sleep?"

Connor looked at the back of the black clad woman in surprise. He hadn't known that mages in this world had to defend themselves against demons every time they went to sleep. He hadn't even been sure that demons existed here at all. As it was he was uncertain as how to answer her question, normally he would have said that Zatanna didn't have such problems, but here in a different dimension? Who knew?

"I don't know." He told her truthfully, but he was deeply unsettled by such thoughts.

"I see, for now let's meet up with the others. Let us see what tidings they bring us." Morwen suggested and marched on, her dark cloak swirling behind her like a bad omen.


	6. Revelations

**Chapter 6; Revelations**

**The village of Lothering**

"So, do you know where your relatives live? Like the address or something like that?" Artemis questioned the Circle mage as she lead her and Dinah towards the nearest farm.

"I only know that they live here in Lothering, as farmers. I figured we would just ask someone if they know anyone with the family name 'Amell' and let them point us in the right direction." Alex said with a small shrug. "Worst case we have to ask every farmer and the last house is actually the right one… Well, or we get told that they moved and we just wasted our time."

"I appreciate your optimism." Artemis snarked sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

"I thought a big bad warrior like yourself could stand to walk a little. Or do your little feet hurt? Do you want me to make it all better?" Alex shot back mockingly.

"Ha, I bet I don't have as many problems as you in that regard." Artemis replied, unable to ignore the challenge.

Dinah for her part only rolled her eyes at the two younger women. _I was never like that when I was there age_. Dinah thought with a slight shake of her head. They had only just met a few hours ago, and already they were so quick to challenge one another, even if it was all in good humor.

"Why are you eyeballing us?" Artemis asked Dinah, interrupting her thoughts. The heroine noted that both of them had apparently stopped their squabbling and looked at her, one in curiosity, the other in challenge.

"Nothing, besides, we're here." Dinah said and pointed at the farmhouse they had just arrived at. Unfortunately the door they knocked on revealed that only a single man lived within the place, but he was able to steer them towards the right direction. It took a good ten minutes to make it to the very edge of Lothering, but when they arrived, Alex hesitantly took the lead. All the while Dinah tried to keep the peace between Artemis and the Circle mage.

The two women shared a glance at Dinah's obvious attempts to change the subject. With a slight shrug Alex turned and knocked on the door of the farm. There was no answer at first. Only after she knocked a second time did an older woman answer the door.

"May I help you?" She asked, and raised an eyebrow when she saw the two that followed the nervous black haired woman's lead. They were...strangely dressed, but she recognized a mage when she saw one. "I already told the recruiter my children would be at Ostagar. What more does the King expect?"

"Sorry, but we're not with the army...well, not officially." Dinah replied gently and nudged Alexandria in the back. "We're looking for someone."

"I...I apologize for suddenly dropping in like this...but are you Leandra Amell?" Alex nervously asked, and when the older woman nodded her head, she breathed a little easier, her brown eyes misting over as a flood of emotions hit her at once. "I'm...well a distant niece, according to the file I saw way back when. Uh..Alexandria Amell, sorry, but I-" She never got a chance to finish when Leandra put a hand to her mouth in surprise before pulling the mage into a tight, all encompassing hug.

"Alexandria! I-I thought you were in the Circle! We tried to write, but they always refused to deliver the letters." Artemis and Dinah took a step back, feeling like they were intruding on a private moment as Leandra put her hands on Alex's face and smiled, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I should have recognized you the moment I saw you."

"It's fine Auntie Leandra. Maker it feels good to say that."

"It feels good to hear you say it." The older woman said with teary eyes before she turned to the other two women. Remembering herself, Leandra smiled and nodded to the small house behind them. "Please, you must be tired and hungry from your journey here, no doubt to join in the fight against the darkspawn. My home is yours."

"Thank you ma'am, but we don't wish to intrude." Dinah replied, while Artemis remained silent.

"Nonsense. You brought my niece here, that won't be forgotten."

"We thank you for your generosity but… there are a few others in our group."

"I insist." Leandra told them smiling. "Though I am afraid that I don't have much to offer aside some peace and quiet, and my barn to sleep in."

"Well, if you insist." Dinah said and scratched her head lightly before a reassuring smile appeared on her face. "And don't worry, the barn will be fine. We won't be needing much."

"Says you." Artemis muttered, and received an elbow in her side from Dinah for her trouble. "I was kidding." She grumbled and crossed her arms in annoyance. Despite her comment though, she couldn't deny she was happy for Alex and Leandra. A part of her was jealous, but it was a very small part as she smirked up towards Alex. "And you were worried."

"You'd be worried too if our positions were reversed." The mage retorted before following Leandra into her home.

"Probably." Artemis conceded with a shrug. "On the plus side your family hasn't tried to kill you on multiple occasions."

"Eh… good point?" Alex said uncertainly and looked at Dinah for help.

"It's a long story." Dinah replied in explanation, not about to talk about Artemis's past without her doing so first. Besides, like she had told Duncan, it wasn't her story to tell anyway. Instead, she turned the conversation elsewhere. "Your children will join the king's army too?"

"My son, Carver, and my oldest daughter, Mirian, yes." Leandra replied with clear worry in her eyes. "They will probably arrive at Ostagar today." No sooner did the words leave her mouth did the front door burst open, a tall, muscular young man followed closely by a red haired, blue eyed, slender woman. "Carver? Mirian? What are you doing here?"

"Sorry mother, but Carver forgot his brain." The young woman chuckled and nimbly stepped back when the man turned on his heel and tried to playfully shove her back.

"I forgot my damn sword. But I wouldn't have if _someone_ hadn't been pestering me for the better part of an hour."

"Right, because you weren't busy with a certain village girl until I had to drop in and break up your little party of two." Mirian retorted without missing a beat, and smirked at their mother before looking towards the three strangers.

Artemis blinked stupidly at him. "You forgot… your sword?" She asked him to clarify, the mere thought was inconceivable for her. She would never forget her sword and it wasn't even her main weapon.

"Yeah, I did." Carver pressed out moodily before he finally realized they had company as well. "And who are you people?"

"Carver, this is Alexandra Amell. Your cousin and her friends, who have yet to introduce themselves." The slight, mischievous smirk on Leandra's face was matched by the much wider one on Mirian's.

"Oh, forgive me." Dinah said embarrassed and lightly bowed in the woman's direction. "I'm Dinah Lance, and this is Artemis."

Carver didn't even seem to listen to her as his eyes zeroed in on Alex. "Great, another mage." He muttered under his breath though it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

Mirian was far more open minded as she swiftly kicked Carver in the back of his shin for his comment. "Sorry, but my brother has always been quick with his mouth, far less so with his mind. Personally I'm surprised he even has a girlfriend, much less friends that purposely put up with his brand of stupidity."

"I'm right here you know!" Carver protested hotly even as he gingerly rubbed at his bruised shin.

"Yep. That's kinda the point little brother." Mirian pointed out and patted his head like he was a dog that completed a particular challenging trick.

"Children, peace." Leandra pleaded, mildly embarrassed by their antics. She needn't have worried as Alex snickered into her hand while Artemis had to bite her tongue to keep herself from laughing at the sight. Dinah only shook her head, an amused gleam in her gaze.

"Sorry." Carver muttered quietly.

"Of course mother." Hawke said and blinked innocently. It was then she nodded to Artemis and Alex. "Gotta say, you look ready for war yourself, Artemis was it? And it's nice to know they finally let you out of the Tower for the end of the world. We can go to our deaths as one big happy family." Mirian proclaimed happily, even as her hands fell on the twin steel daggers on her hips.

"Funny, I had the same thought." Alex chuckled, and grinned at her cousin.

"Well at least we'll die with a smile on our faces, right?" Artemis muttered sarcastically. Even as the words left her mouth though, she couldn't help but smirk at the two Amells. They hadn't known each other more than five minutes, and already they seemed to be two peas in a pod. "But I don't plan to die at all."

"No one does." Mirian replied, her previous good cheer forgotten. It was more than a little surprising to see her shift from cheerful to deadly serious so quickly. "But what we plan and what happens are rarely the same."

"Yeah." Artemis agreed quietly, her thoughts automatically drifting towards Wally. The speedster had always managed to cheer her up, no matter how grim things looked, and it was only now that he was gone that she truly realized how much he had meant to her.

Alex was about to ask what had just happened to the good mood, but she didn't get a chance when Bethany came in from a nearby back door, only to stop and stare in alarm at the strangers that had gathered about her mother's small home. "Uh...hi?"

"Mother, do you mind telling me who these people are?" Bethany asked as she pulled her staff from her back. Mirian's quiet chuckle earned a puzzled look from the young mage. "And what are you two doing here? I thought you'd left early this morning?"

Mirian grinned at her sister, and shrugged in feigned nonchalance. "Well, we thought that you would miss us, or rather me, and decided to visit our favourite sister. Also the Mage is our cousin." She said and pointed at Alex. "And her friends."

"Oh. So Carver forgot his sword." Bethany giggled while Carver groaned and threw his hands in the air before stomping off to get the last of his equipment. They ignored him while she turned and regarded Alex in curiosity. "I never thought I'd meet you."

"The feeling is mutual." Alex replied, almost ready to burst into tears yet again.

"So, how is the life in the Circle? Father rarely spoke about it." Bethany questioned curiously.

"Oh it's great. As long as you don't mind having no privacy, templars glaring at you, often shouting at you, rarely allowed to go outside and generally being treated like a demon in disguise, then it's the perfect place to stay." She held up a hand before Bethany could respond and smiled. "My opinion might be a bit biased, but honestly, it's not that bad. We learn how to control our power, to defend ourselves and our friends, and some of us get real lucky and get conscripted by a Grey Warden, giving me at least a level of freedom I haven't experienced before."

Leandra subtly nodded to Artemis and Dinah, getting their attention while Bethany and Alex talked. "I fear they'll be there for some time. I could use some help preparing our dinner in the meantime."

"Um." Artemis said and looked at Dinah. The older woman only gave her an uncomfortable look of her own. Neither of the two blondes knew how to cook. At least not successfully. Rather, they could cook, but Dinah wasn't used to such limited means, and Artemis was far more used to hunting, skinning, and cooking wild game when out in the wilderness. But using a simple stone and wood burning stove wasn't exactly within her skillset.

"I hate to say it, but we won't be of much help in that regard." Dinah admitted and shifted uncomfortably. "Though you won't have to provide food for us. We took care of that, and we'll only stay for the night anyway."

Leandra wouldn't hear of it though. "As long as you're guests in my home, you'll be fed a good meal and given what little comforts I can manage while you're here."

"Want me to get Carver to help you?" Mirian asked with twitching lips, having pulled herself away from Alex and her sister.

"Maker forbid, don't even joke about that Mirian." Leandra scolded her oldest daughter. Apparently the mere thought of Carver 'helping' in the kitchen was a horror scenario in the making.

"I'll have you know it wasn't that bad!" Carver shouted from the other room, which only earned him a bout of laughter from Mirian for his trouble. He sighed as he entered the living slash kitchen area and plopped himself down at the table, his arms crossed over his broad chest. "Have your laugh sis. I'll be sure not to watch your back while we're knee deep in darkspawn."

"Ha, but I will watch yours. You'll need it more than me anyway." Mirian countered, her

"We'll see, sister. I wonder how your tiny daggers will fare against the darkspawn. I won't have that problem, my greatsword will cleave them in two!" Carver boasted and puffed out his chest.

"Someone's full of himself aren't they?" Artemis chortled and poked at Carver's chest a little harder than was necessary. It had the desired effect as he let out the breath he'd been holding and glared at her. "Trust me, precision and speed will always win out over brute strength pal."

"Finally, someone I can relate to." Mirian cheerfully stated. "I never did see the point to carrying a giant sword myself. It just makes you slow, and I always wonder if said warriors are compensating for something."

Leandra only sighed while Dinah finally chuckled and shook her head. That night's meal promised to be quite entertaining.

**That night….**

"When I made my offer of hospitality, I should have asked just how many were coming." Leandra stated, smiling despite how tired she was after she, Mirian, Carver, and Bethany had been all but overwhelmed by the veritable horde that had shown up at her door later that afternoon.

"I apologize for any discomfort we have caused you, Lady Amell." Morwen said and inclined her head towards the older woman. "But we do appreciate your generosity more than can be properly expressed."

"It was a nice change from our usual day Morwen, it was truly no trouble at all." Leandra reassured the dark robed woman.

Carver just continued to glare moodily at her and Richard since both of them had agreed that stealth held numerous advantages over simply rushing in with a huge sword. Dick had gone so far as to refer to such a tactic as "unimaginative" while Morwen viewed it as "brutish". That hadn't set well with Leandra's only son. Of course, it didn't help that they had brought another mage with them, who was currently leaned against the wall by the front door, a contented smirk on her face. Then there was Alex, their cousin from the Circle.

The welcome Alex had received had been beyond all expectations, save perhaps from Carver. Even then, he hadn't been rude exactly, just cautious. She had never even dreamed of meeting someone from her family let alone them welcoming her like a long lost daughter, but they had, and it felt better than she was able to describe. "Better get used to it cousin." Mirian chuckled as she put a hand on Alex's shoulder, drawing her out of her thoughts. "You're an Amell, and we watch out for each other. And I don't need to be a blood mage to know what you're thinking. That giant, goofy grin on your face pretty much says it all."

"Sorry-" Alex began to say, but a light laugh and a pat on her back silenced her.

"Don't apologize for being happy. Honestly, I can't blame you, even if I can't imagine what you've been through to get here. But I know how I'd feel if Bethany was ever taken away from me."

"If that ever happens, tell me. I'll help you get her back." Alex vowed. While she had felt, overall, welcome and safe in the Circle Tower, she hadn't enjoyed it either. Especially after the events that had seen her stuck between a rock and a hard place. A friend had betrayed her, and if not for Duncan's intervention, she doubted she'd be here right now.

"I'm sure you would, but I don't think it'll come to that." Mirian smiled before gathering the last of the used cutlery and plates from the table. The rest had already been collected by her sister and mother. "Besides, we've avoided Templar trouble so far, what's a few more years after we destroy the darkspawn?"

"Is optimism an Amell trait as well?" Alex asked, to which Mirian chuckled and nodded. "I could get used to that."

"You better, I could use you around. Sometimes it's hard to counter all of Carver's moodiness alone." Mirian smirked while Alex did her best not to laugh, but it was a failed attempt when Carver muttered something under his breath and stomped outside.

Zatanna had stayed silent long enough as she pushed away from the wall, her blue eyes alight with delight as she leaned against the table, facing the two Amells. "I for one have to agree with you. He didn't exactly warm up to me."

"Don't take it personally, he doesn't like hiding all the time, even if he loves Bethany in his own, moody, broody way."

"I think he dislikes feeling inferior to both his sisters." Morwen butted in from her position, careful to keep her voice low enough not to be heard by anyone except the three women she was talking to.

"That makes sense." Mirian agreed with a slight nod. "I mean Bethany and I obviously got the good looks in the family, and the brains too."

"I can't argue with that." Zatanna chuckled before her smile turned into a small frown. "I never said it, but thanks for letting us stay here."

"I think my mother said it best. You and your friends brought one of our family home. We'd be rather rude to let you sleep out in the fields, cold, hungry, and knee deep in mud. You might still end up a bit cold, but at least you'll have a roof over your head tonight, although the smell from sleeping in the barn might be enough to kill the darkspawn on its own."

"That would make our job a lot easier." Zatanna chimed in without missing a beat, her eyes meeting Alexandria's.

"Nah, that would be too easy." Both mages said at the same time and grinned at each other.

Leandra could only sigh but smile tiredly at her guests. Dinah didn't need her to say it, but she was no doubt wishing they wouldn't be so cavalier about the impending battle. On the other hand, Dinah understood the need to keep the mood light, even when facing what could be very well be their last days. Levity before a major confrontation only increased their odds of making it through the day. Their developing friendships here would only help them later down the road if all went well. She was about to say something to that effect to the elder Amell, but Conner pushing the door open and a subtle glance outside had her and Zatanna running out with Morwen and Mirian hot on their heels.

"Someone's coming our way." Was the super clone's warning as he scanned the darkening horizon. "Not sure if they're friendly or not, I just know we should expect company."

"Make sure that Richard stays down, I don't want him here in his weakened state." Morwen told Connor in a commanding tone. Even without turning the hooded woman knew that Artemis had followed them. The archer in question seemed to materialize out of thin air on her right, having come around the side of the Amell house. "Artemis, find a spot from where you can attack them. If they are unfriendly, I don't want them anywhere near the house."

"Fine." She grumbled before jumping onto the roof with a little boost from Conner. Nimbly landing in a crouched position on the thatched and wooden structure, the bronzed clad hero pulled her hand crossbow and steadied her aim, her eyes on the path that led towards Lothering. Conner had since taken up a defensive position in front of the door, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed to slits.

Morwen didn't question their strange abilities and skills, while Mirian raised a red, thin eyebrow to her hairline, her question unspoken but obvious on her fair face. "It is a long story." Was the robed woman's explanation.

"I expect an answer one day." Mirian whispered back before disappearing, silent as ghost into the nearby foliage.

"One day." Morwen agreed with a nod before following her fellow rogue's example.

The open fields, most of which consisted of tall grasses and the occasional tree, stretched on all sides of the Amell home, offering plenty of places to hide for your average bandit. But something in the way these people moved about, almost inaudible even to his senses, told him they weren't your average group of thieves. He knew he wasn't losing his edge because he could hear his companions just fine, and he hardly twitched when Morwen's mabari, Shadow, walked up to his side and started to growl in the back of his throat. "Yeah, I know something's out there." Conner agreed, and clenched his hands into tight fists, prepared to attack at a moment's notice.

Shadow cocked his head and barked once, as if to ask. "Can we eat them after we tear them apart?" The movement reminded Conner eerily of his own pet, Wolf.

Jerking his head to the right when a tree branch snapped, shattering the tense silence, Conner held a hand out to Shadow when the mabari hunched down, his muscles tense and ready to pounce. "I know you're out there! Come out before I get angry!" The response he got was a red arrow, fired with uncanny precision that exploded just shy of his face, covering the area in a dense cloud of smoke.

"Why does it always have to be complicated?" Artemis growled, just as she heard someone land behind her. The movement was whisper soft, but it was enough as the blonde turned on her heel, her crossbow leading the way as she pulled her katana in the same breath. What surprised her though was when her sword met a slightly curved blade, sparks flying in every direction.

"Good to see you haven't gotten slow in your old age." The spritely, red hooded warrior chuckled low in her throat as the smoke started to dissipate. Artemis sucked in a sharp breath, recognition dawning immediately when she got a good look at who was behind the sword. "And there's the light bulb." With practiced ease, she sheathed her sword in the scabbard on her back.

"Thea! What the Hell are you doing here?!" Artemis exclaimed surprised before she added a hasty. "Don't."

Thea looked at her momentarily confused before she slowly turned around. Behind her stood a red head that looked rather pissed, with two daggers in hand. "Ah, new recruits for the Arrow family?" She asked, unfazed by the open hostility she was being shown by those around her. She'd been in worse situations and came out ahead.

"What are you talking about and who are you?" Mirian asked, her blue eyes ablaze as she looked to Artemis and Thea respectively.

"Do you want the short answer or the long one?" Thea asked before shooting Artemis a smirk over her shoulder. "And I'm sorta related to her, hence why I decided to drop in smoke screen first."

"Is she speaking the truth?" Morwen asked as she seemed to materialize on the roof, like she had just shed the very shadows themselves, her own glare directed at Thea.

Artemis groaned and sheathed her sword and crossbow. "Ugh, yes, her big brother adopted me way back when, so that makes her my crazy aunt. Sort of."

"Don't say it like you don't like me or anything." Thea sarcastically muttered before answering Artemis's next question before she could fire it off. "Kaldur sent me, and yes Ollie knows I'm here, and yes we got it secure. No thanks to Malcolm and your own dad I might add."

"Great, as if it wasn't bad enough Ra's was in the picture, your psycho ex Shadow dad had to drop in?" Artemis grumbled as she ran a hand down her face in exasperation.

"Yep, and he isn't the only one. A lot of folks are apparently interested in magic mirror thingies." Thea continued before Artemis could slap a hand over her mouth.

"Huh?" Mirian asked confused and looked at everyone present, hoping to get an answer.

"She's talking about an Eluvian." Morwen explained and looked at Artemis. The archer's gray eyes widened in shock, but she waved her off. "Don't look so surprised, I heard Dinah and Duncan talking about it the other night."

"What's an Eluvian?" Mirian asked, annoyed by the lack of explanation.

"Thanks a lot Thea, you couldn't keep your mouth shut for two seconds?!" Artemis hissed and jumped off the roof, just in time to see Conner sigh and walk off to gather the rest of the team.

"Oh bite me Artemis." Thea replied as she gave chase.

"Oh, maybe I will!" Artemis yelled back.

"Are they always like this?" Mirian asked on one hand she was annoyed at her question being ignored on the other hand she was amused as the two women continued to squabble with each other.

"Never met her before, so I wouldn't know." Morwen replied with a slight shrug and sheathed her weapons, doing her best to keep up with the two warriors as they followed the clone to the barn. The fact she was able to move about so silently and with such skill though said she was not to be underestimated, despite her small size.

"Is this how people see Carver and me?" Mirian absently wondered and looked at the hooded woman once again.

"There are some similarities." The dark clad individual admitted. Morwen jerked her head up just in time when one of the biggest wolves she had ever seen jumped out of the tall grass and looked down at her with glowing yellow eyes. "By the Maker." She didn't get a chance to draw her weapons before the giant white wolf ran off, only to happily bark when it caught up with Conner. "I think we don't want to miss this." The robed woman said once she had regained some measure of her composure.

"What gave you that idea?" Mirian retorted, quite curious to see what other surprises was in store.

The next hour of conversation revealed quite a bit about the strangers though, even if their story was hard to swallow at first. Once they had gathered outside the Amell home, it didn't take long for the truth to come out after Thea and Conner's own loyal companion's impromptu arrival.

Though both Connor and Morwen were more than a little surprised when Shadow and Wolf looked each other in the eye for a moment before apparently deciding to become best friends forever. They were on the edge of the perimeter, sharing a deer they had been able to bring down while the rest of the assembled group were situated around a fire Zatanna had been more than willing to light with a simple wave of her hand, much to Alex and Bethany's slight envy.

"So your home land is plagued by the darkspawn as well? Is there no place these monsters don't seek to destroy?" Leandra said in dismay.

"I am afraid not Lady Amell. But that is why we Wardens exist." Duncan intoned solemnly before nodding his head to the others around him. "And from what I have seen, these strangers to our land are just as determined to see them eradicated as my Order."

"That part I can understand, but it would have been nice to know one of your friends was tainted." Mirian stated and looked towards Dick for emphasis. "Still, I suppose that does explain quite a bit. I'd be willing to move mountains and travel through magic mirrors if there was any chance to save one of my family from the same fate." The less than subtle glance she threw towards Bethany, Carver, and her mother said all she needed to say.

"We apologize for the deception, but it was a necessary evil." Morwen intoned and left her defensive position she had instinctively taken up in front of Dick. While it hadn't been exactly necessary, it had made her feel better at least, and a quick glance at Conner, M'gann, and Zatanna said they had been thinking along the same lines. Though she couldn't help but look at Dick in worry. He had become significantly paler in comparison to those around him, they would need to hurry if they wanted to save his life before the taint would kill him or worse.

"It's understandable, I just hope you make it to Ostagar in time." Bethany replied as she leveled her gaze on the pale young man. "Mayhaps it'd be better if you left sooner rather than later?" She asked, putting their worries into words before she could stop herself.

"The thought had crossed my mind as well." Duncan replied softly. As much as he had wanted to keep going, he also understood that they needed time to prepare for the battles to come.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Dick asked, more to put his two cents out there than anything else, just to say he was still there and well aware of the risks either way.

"No." Morwen retorted and ignored the outraged look on his face.

"This is just too good. You didn't happen to bring any popcorn with you by chance, did ya Thea?" Artemis asked with a grin as she watched her annoyed friend.

"Nope, ran out on the way here, sorry." Thea chuckled as she stood with her arms crossed and a self satisfied smirk on her face. She was enjoying the show just as much.

"Pop-what?" Bethany asked, her confusion mirrored on the faces of the other Fereldens.

"Nevermind, not important. Can we get back to the task at hand by chance?" M'gann asked before she nodded to the assembled Amells. "I don't have to be a mind reader to know you must have a lot of questions."

"Can ya blame them? We just told them we came from beyond a magic mirror M'gann." Conner grunted back, his own muscular arms crossed and his gaze leveled on the red head that had almost taken Thea's head off. Personally, he would have paid a lot of good money to see her try, but he didn't say as much out loud.

"Alright." Mirian started. "I have one. Just who are you, who are you really? I'm willing to take a leap of faith and accept the story that you're from another world. I mean we have magic and demons aplenty, what's a few artifacts from a bygone age on top of that?"

"Are you serious sister? They could be pulling our chains for all you know." Carver protested hotly, not about to believe anything they said at face value.

"To what end?" Morwen asked and narrowed her eyes at the young man. "What could they possibly gain from this? They have asked for nothing, have made no bargains or anything of the sort. In the worst case, the Chantry would try to hunt them down as apostates or heretics. Even worse, they might even be considered abominations if this were to reach the wrong ears."

"And the only end result for such a creature is death." Alex shuddered, memories of her Harrowing fresh in her mind, and her near possession at the hands of a demon that had tried to pass itself off as a harmless mouse. That was not something she'd wish on her worst enemy.

Despite the fact that she wasn't very good in reassuring other people, Morwen decided to show her faith in the mage's abilities. "That won't happen to you. I am certain." Morwen told her and put a hand on her shoulder, and she really believed that. Duncan took only the best with him, he wouldn't choose a mage that could be possessed at any moment. Alex managed a small, grateful smile at the gesture, and nodded her head in thanks before Morwen turned back to the crowd at large. "I for one believe them. I've seen some of what they're capable of, and they are unique, even for our world. Conner for example is far stronger than any man you could imagine, and Zatanna's magic is also foreign, at least from what Alex has hinted at."

"She's right." Bethany mused, having not noticed before as she regarded the raven haired magician with more than her eyes. "I hadn't noticed before, but I knew you were a mage since you have that spark like me and our cousin, but I hadn't thought to look deeper. You're positively glowing though."

"I've never been told I glowed before." Zatanna chuckled before her blue eyes started to glow with a light of their own as she swept her gaze over the young Amell. Seeing her eyes change earned her a raised eyebrow from Miaran and a surprised gasp from Bethany, but the sorceress paid it no mind as she blinked and her eyes returned to their pale blue color. "Huh, you have a lot of power behind you as well, although if you come from a long line of mages, that doesn't surprise me."

"Before you ask, where we come from, magic isn't constricted like it is here." Dick started to explain when Bethany opened her mouth, and smiled when she immediately snapped her lips shut. "I can understand why it would be if all this talk about demons possessing people is to be believed, but we don't have that problem back home. But that does raise a good question." He left the rest of his thought unsaid as he looked towards Zatanna who only shrugged.

"I haven't been bothered yet, but we've only been here what, a day, two at the most?" Zatanna asked, unoffended by where the conversation had turned, before she rubbed the bottom of her chin in thought. "On the other hand, we've been falling into our bedrolls, dead on our feet almost every time since we got here. And so far my dreams haven't been any different than back home." She didn't say what those dreams usually entailed, since they were...personal. Only her closest friends knew they usually involved the day her father gave up his freedom to ensure she had hers.

"Be grateful for that. It can get tiring to fend off demons each night. Especially the ones who know what they are doing." Alex warned, and shivered since she'd been pestered by more than a couple since her Harrowing. Thankfully they were minor annoyances at best, but they were still demons, and were not to be underestimated.

"Not to be a buzzkill or anything, but while this conversation is oh so stimulating, if you aren't planning to head back, then I need to take something back to the rest of the League." Thea stated, and looked to each of them in turn for an answer.

Duncan was the first to speak up, unsurprisingly to most of the group. "I would suggest you stay with us young lady, at least until we reach Ostagar. Then, if things work out, you will be able to go back to your superiors and tell them the good news, at least regarding your companion. But traveling the roads at night, alone, is a foolhardy venture even during the best of times, even for one such as yourself." While he didn't doubt Thea was a quite capable warrior, even the most experienced could end up in trouble if they weren't prepared.

"I can take care of myself." Thea shot back and scowled lightly. "My _father_ made sure of that."

"I do not question your competence." Duncan replied, and noted the hostility in her tone when she spoke of her father. There was a story and a half there, but like so many things about these people, she didn't elaborate, leaving him to puzzle out what had happened.

"Thea, we know you can handle yourself as well as any, if not better, than the rest of us, but Duncan is right. Thedas is not Earth, and the dangers here aren't the same." Dinah intoned, hoping to make the headstrong archer see things from their point of view. "Besides, would you rather have half the story or the whole one to send back to the League and Oliver?"

"Dinah? I've been head shrunk before, I didn't enjoy it then and I'm still not a fan." Despite her sarcasm, she sighed and made no move to leave. "Alright, but this better be worth it."

"Depends on your definition of 'worth it' I suppose." Artemis snarked with an eyeroll. "We're headed towards Ostagar where the king's army will battle the darkspawn, and thousands will probably die. Good enough?"

"Uh, Artemis." M'gann said and shot a glance towards Leandra who at the mention of the battle and the estimated casualties, had gone pale. "Perhaps a little more tact?" The blonde archer only scowled in response, making it clear she wasn't going to go back on what she had just said.

"And I thought I was the optimistic one." Carver grumbled aloud.

"The king has emerged victorious over the darkspawn in multiple engagements, however I have a feeling we haven't seen the main bulk of the horde yet. What you say could very well come to pass." Duncan intoned somberly. "I apologize for my harsh words, Lady Amell. But I think that a false hope can be the most cruel gift one can receive."

Leandra sighed and nodded her head. "You and my late husband would have gotten along well. He did not waste time with pretty words either, he preferred blunt honesty over flattery." Looking towards her children, she stood to her feet and hugged Carver and Mirian both against her. "I know I cannot stop you, but promise me that you will do all you can to return. The thought of losing you both…."

"We'll be fine mother." Carver replied softly.

"We'll return, I promise." Mirian stated, her voice so full of steely conviction that even the most cynical among the gathered got the impression she'd fight every last darkspawn in her way if she had to.

"I'm going to check the vicinity." Morwen muttered and brushed past the others. Unable to look upon this family farewell any longer, she walked away, hoping some distance between herself and them would keep the memories at bay. Unfortunately, the scene was all too eerily familiar to her. To make matters worse, she could still hear Orren's voice echo in her head. _Is there really going to be a war, Papa? Will you bring me back a sward?_ She was so lost in those recent, painful memories, she didn't see M'gann's concerned gaze follow her as she left the clearing.

As if on some unspoken signal, Duncan tossed one last bit of branch into the small fire before them before standing to his feet. "It is perhaps for the best if we prepare for an early morning. We still have a long way to go."

"He's right, we need to get some rest." Dinah agreed as she started towards the barn. A subtle glance between herself, Conner, Dick, and M'gann saw the martian disappearing from sight just as Mirian and Carver pulled away from Leandra and their sister who had since joined in the group hug. On silent agreement, at least to the untrained eye, M'gann flew off to follow Morwen while everyone else wandered towards their respective beds. _Keep an eye on her._ Was all Dinah had needed to say for M'gann to chase after the robed woman. She had sensed the woman's emotional pain and torment, so it hadn't taken much to convince her to pursue Morwen without her knowledge.

Levitating a good ten feet off the ground, M'gann was able to follow the rogue with little difficulty as she moved about the fields, silent as a ghost. While their concern was well founded, the martian still felt a little guilty for spying on the woman as she came to a stop by an old oak tree and leaned against the ancient bark. Slowly floating down to the ground, the martian landed lightly on the grassy floor, still camouflaged and all but invisible from nearly all forms of sight. Of course, past experience had taught her that notably perceptive people could still see through her active camouflage with ease.

"It is a beautiful country out here." Morwen said without looking over her shoulder. M'gann said nothing as she pulled down her hood and revealed herself to the robed woman's sight. She didn't react save to glance at the young woman before turning her gaze back to the star strewn sky. "I appreciate you following me Megan, even if I did not ask for it."

"That's what friends do, even if we haven't known each other long enough to actually call each other that." Megan let that hang in the air for several moments before taking a hesitant step closer. "I think you know by now I'm not like the others of the group."

"The less than subtle glances you've been sharing with the others are hard to miss once you know what to look for." Morwen retorted, a ghost of a smile pulling at her lips before she looked away. "I do not know how you do it, only that I get the impression you are somehow able to communicate without the need to actually speak. I'd accuse you of blood magic, but no blood has been spilled, no spells spoken aloud, so that can't be it. I suppose it does not matter. You have given me no reason to suspect you, if anything….you've given me a reason to trust again. You are too honest to lie convincingly for long."

"You...might be surprised by how well I can lie if the occasion calls for it." Megan replied, her cheeks turning a shade of red that almost put her hair to shame as she pulled a stray lock back behind her ear. Morwen only nodded, accepting the comment for what it was, but her opinion remained unchanged. Sensing her acceptance, Megan took another step closer before hesitantly bringing up what was really on her mind, and why she had followed Morwen in the first place. "I...part of my power entails being able to sense the emotions of those around me Morwen. Anytime I'm near you, I can feel your rage, your sorrow, and guilt. It's like being trapped in the eye of a storm."

"And you want to know why." Morwen stated rather than asked. "I knew someone would ask about it eventually, I haven't exactly made an effort to keep my pain hidden, but….it is still too raw a wound for me to talk about. All I can say is that….I've lost more than anyone should ever experience, and I'm determined to see those responsible pay for their crimes." While she kept her voice level and calm, M'gann saw how her right hand clenched up into a tight, bloodless fist around the hilt of her dagger. After taking a breath, Morwen relaxed her grip and looked away, unable to meet the girl's red brownish gaze. "I know the difference between revenge and justice, but for me the line has become a lot more blurred because of what's happened."

"Believe me, I know better than you might think." Was Megan's cryptic response as she started away, intending to leave Morwen to her thoughts.

She didn't get far before Morwen's voice stopped her. "Perhaps, but sometimes I feel like the only thing keeping me from lashing out on everyone I deem guilty is a promise I made… to someone who was very dear to me." Morwen said and lowered her head in shame. "I don't know if you can understand that, looking at you and your friends, you all seem just so… righteous."

"At least you're making the effort to keep your promise Morwen, even if it's hard." Megan replied and lowered her own head in shame as she remembered ripping Kaldur's mind apart during the attack on the Reach's hidden vessel. She had fixed the damage later, but the fact remained she had lashed out against him when she had mistakenly believed he had killed Artemis. "Not all of us can say the same. We're not as righteous as you think….we've made mistakes, some of which we can't take back no matter how hard we try."

"I guess we all live with regrets." Morwen conceded and looked up at the moon. "I would like to be alone… just for a little while, please." Megan looked over her shoulder, meeting her blue eyed gaze and nodded before disappearing from sight and floating away towards the barn. "Thank you...Megan." She whispered, having a feeling the strange girl had heard her.

Megan turned around to look at Morwen's cloaked figure one last time. In her hands was now a broken blade that glimmered in the moonlight. As she continued to watch, she saw tears hit the flat side of the blade as silent sobs began to shake the young woman's body. Megan turned around without another word as much as she wanted to do something to help her. She knew that Morwen didn't want to be seen in this moment of weakness and she would respect her wishes.

"Were we right?" Dick asked the moment Megan phased through the barn door. She only nodded her head, to which Nightwing sighed and nodded in turn. "I figured as much. She's been carrying the weight of her family since we met her. I know….I've been there."

"I don't know what happened yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if she was there when they were taken from her Dick." Megan sighed as she walked to one of the few bedrolls that were left. All the other ones were already occupied or claimed, but she hardly noticed, too consumed with what she'd felt while talking to Morwen. "I can't even read her mind, the raw grief, anger and guilt act like a shield, threatening to drown me with their intensity should I risk it. Just standing near her can be… difficult."

"Like being around Artemis?" Dick asked quietly, and nodded to the sleeping blonde in the loft above them.

"At least she's had a couple months, Morwen's loss is...pretty recent. It makes sense she'd feel it a lot more keenly." The comparison was still uncanny though as Megan stopped by her bedroll before looking up into Dick's face after glancing towards Conner and Wolf. "I...honestly don't know what I'd do if something were to happen to him Richard. The thought terrifies me more than whatever these darkspawn could do to us."

"Let's hope you never have to find out Megan." Nightwing answered tiredly, and suppressed another cough. If he didn't, they would all probably freak out and sprint towards Ostagar. "But to be honest, if something were to happen to Batman… I wouldn't know how to deal with it either. I lost my family once, and yet I still can't answer your question."

"You got a new one in us and Br-Batman, but we'd never try to replace your old one." Megan said and looked slightly uncomfortable, hoping that she hadn't offended him.

"I know Megan." Dick smiled, knowing what she'd meant. The thought was what mattered. "It sucks, but I don't think I'd have been the same person if I hadn't met you guys when I had."

"That's something we can agree on."

"Unless you two plan to get a room, some of us are trying to sleep." Thea grumbled from a darkened corner of the barn and pulled her blanket over her head with a muttered curse.

"She's more childish than I expected the sister of Green Arrow to be." Dick admitted and looked at the still grumbling form of Thea with a raised eyebrow. Megan only chuckled quietly in response before getting herself settled. Dick sighed and stood silently before the barn doors, unable to shake the feeling Ostagar was going to be their hardest battle to date. Even when Morwen walked in some time later and glared at him before pointing to his bedroll, the feeling didn't disappear. If anything, it became more pronounced, even as sleep overcame him shortly afterward. Ostagar would test them in ways he wasn't sure they were prepared for.

For two of their number, the tests had already begun. Alex had expected a visit by a lowly demon in her dreams, and knew what to do to drive it away without much difficulty. She had trained all her life to deal with the supernatural entities of the Fade, and to control her own considerable talents in the magical arts. What she hadn't expected was seeing Zatanna in the same dream scape as herself shortly after dispatching her unwanted company, confusion clearly etched onto her face by the shifting nature of the Fade itself.

To her credit, the raven haired sorceress took in the mist covered area in with a calmness that belied her experience with the arcane. "Okay….you're here, I'm here, that means this...whatever it is really does affect all mages. I take it the Black City is here too somewhere? At least according to the book I read before making the trip."

"Look behind you." Alex merely said and pointed to a spot above Zatanna's shoulder. The raven haired sorceress turned and for the first time in her life beheld the black city. It was high above them and seemed to throw a menacing shadow over the whole area.

"That's all I needed to know." Zatanna blew out a breath before turning her gaze on her fellow mage. The area around them consisted of floating islands and strange statues that looked more monstrous than anything. Pools of dark, stagnant water and who knew what else surrounded them, but she hardly noticed, too intent on her companion. She wanted answers. "Gotta say, I was expecting something...less dark and dreary when I read about the Black City and the realm it was a part of."

Her sarcasm was palpable, but Alex let it wash over her and focused more on Zatanna's comment itself. "Don't let the appearance deceive you, nothing here will remain. The Fade is constantly changing, only the Black City remains unchanged. It may change position, but it is always visible… except if you are trapped within the illusion of a powerful demon."

"If this place really is constructed by the dreams of those who sleep in the mortal world, that would make sense regarding its shifting nature. Huh, I gotta say, I'm kinda jealous. We don't have this where we come from."

"Be grateful for that. The beings that inhabit this realm are generally evil incarnate. Only the benevolent spirits will leave you alone, and they don't make it a habit of interacting with us." Alex warned, her eyes scanning the area for any sign of movement.

"There are other things here beyond demons?" Zatanna asked, surprised since the way everyone talked about the Fade made it seem more like some kind of Hell.

"Indeed, I even talked to a spirit of valor once. However, I had to prove my valor to him so that he would help me. He actually did, gave me a weapon I could use here, but beyond that? Nothing."

"Huh. Well, you certainly have my attention." Zatanna said as she leaned against a mound of dirt, her arms crossed and her blue eyes locked on Alex's worried face. "This place really unnerves you doesn't it." It wasn't a question.

She nodded and lowered her head slightly before she responded. "Before we met, I had a friend. Jowan. All mages must pass a test called the Harrowing. We're sent into the Fade, told to face off against a demon, and destroy it. However, you are not told what you have to do during the Harrowing. I passed my test, Jowan… he was too afraid to even try. So he did what anyone trapped in a corner would do, he tried to find a means to become stronger."

"I'm not going to like this am I?" Zatanna asked rhetorically.

"Probably not. He came to me, told me that he was to be made Tranquil." Alex explained and saw the realization on the other mage's features. "I see you know what that means." Zatanna didn't say how she knew, having been told by Conner what that meant after they had found a moment to talk after dinner, and simply nodded to Alex's comment. It was enough before she continued. "Anyway, I did what any good friend would do. I tried to help him escape, well him and his Chantry lover, we were so close to freedom that we could practically smell it. That was when the Templars found us. They wanted to punish us, and in his desperation Jowan proved their, and my, worst fears were real. He cut open the palm of his hand and used blood magic on the Templars and my mentor, knocking them all unconscious."

"I'm gonna take a guess here and say this blood magic is not something you want to be caught using. Still, just what is blood magic? And what happened to the girl?"

"The girl was sent to an infamous Chantry prison for aiding a maleficar, or blood mage. Now to explain blood magic, simply put you use the power of blood instead of Lyrium, however in doing so you basically light a beacon for demons to find you. Many blood mages are insane, cruel or both. It is said that they can influence minds and can cause horrible pain, or create monstrosities."

Zatanna could think of a few branches of magic back on Earth that would have fit the bill for an adequate comparison, none of which she would ever stoop to. Even so, something about Alex's description chilled even her to the core. Despite this, she made a mental note to make sure M'gann didn't accidentally reveal the fact she could read and manipulate minds since she had a feeling Alex would freak out, at least as things stood now.

Zatanna was about to say something when she suddenly whirled around. "What was that?" Her right hand started to crackle and dance with electricity. She could have sworn she saw something dash into hiding just a few feet away.

"What was what?" Alex asked and pulled out the staff that Valor had given her.

"I dont know, I just feel like we're being watched." Zatanna replied and tried to find a trail that would lead them to their unwelcome observer. No sooner had she started the spell though, the feeling disappeared, as did whatever magical signature she had tried to hone in on. "Damn."

"It flew the coop, whatever it was." Alex sighed and looked up towards the sickly brown sky above them, or at least she assumed it was the sky. "Let's hope morning comes soon. I hate it here even when I know what is hunting me."

"No arguing here. Demons, I hate them back home and I'm starting to hate them here." Zatanna grumbled and made sure to check her surroundings from that moment now on.

"At least I have company." Alex chuckled weakly, to which Zatanna smirked back in reply. A frown pulled at the Circle mage's lips though as a thought occurred to her. "How are you here exactly? I never heard of two mages occupying the same place in the Fade before."

"I don't know, to be honest. I get the feeling that it was just dumb luck. For all we know, the next time we go to sleep, we won't have the luxury of each other's company." Zatanna admitted with a frown.

"Damn, and here I was hoping you had this very convenient spell." Alex said with a weak smile.

"Not yet." Zatanna chuckled, even as she made another mental note to work on something to that effect. "I might surprise you one night, we'll just have to see."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Alex replied, and breathed a little easier. Even if it didn't work out, she took some comfort in the knowledge Zatanna was at her back one way or the other.

 _ **End Notes; Vergil1989;**_ _It has been quite some time I'll admit, but we never forgot about this story. Unfortunately, one of our dear friends has had a lot of RL trouble fall into his lap, and won't be able to write with us for some time until things settle down for him. Even so, we plan to keep his stories and ours alive, so we'll likely try to update Archer's stuff when we get the chance, but for now, this one was bugging me to no end. Thanks to_ _ **Nomad-117**_ _, I finally got it updated again, and we might do a couple more before we proceed to something else. Regardless, we hope you enjoy this chapter as much as we enjoyed putting it together, and give your thoughts and support to_ _ **Archer83**_ _during this tumultuous time for him. Trust me, he'll appreciate the support._

 _ **Nomad-117:**_ _I can add little more to a speech such as this except some small things. For those of you who fear that this will be just a retelling of the game I have this to say, do not worry we have a lot of changes planned. In some cases probably too many. Rest assured that we'll strive to make this story as great as we can possibly manage. Aside from that I can only agree with Vergil and ask you to support our dear friend in these dark days._

 _ **Vergil1989;**_ _As a quick side note, yes, I know Thea Queen isn't in YJ in any shape or form. But like Victor Fries and his far less homicidal nature in this, at least without a justifiable reason, this is a bit of a mashup between the different DC universes that are out there. That includes but isn't limited to the live action epicness we've been getting from Arrow, Flash, the Legends of Tomorrow, etc. But the general idea will remain the same, we're just throwing in our favorite characters and making them fit as best we can into this without going completely off the wall, as it were lol. Anyway, reviews, follows, and faves are still very much appreciated, but also support thrown to Archer83 is far more important right now. Thank you all for your patience and understanding. Adios!_


	7. Arrival

**Chapter 7: Arrival**

**Forest path close to Ostagar**

**Five days later**

Dick's condition had declined rapidly in the following days. He was coughing far more often now and looked pale as a corpse. Though he still insisted he was 'fine', it was nearly impossible to believe him anymore. His condition had everyone on edge, his friends feared that they would be forced to watch him succumb after getting so close to the cure, while Duncan kept giving him strange looks, his hand never far from the dagger on his belt.

They all knew why, but no one wanted to say it. They all knew Dick was reaching his limit. Sooner or later, he'd either succumb to the sickness in his body, or he'd become something less than human. The only reason they let Duncan anywhere near Richard though was because M'gann had assured them he would not harm Nightwing. The only reason his hand kept straying to his dagger was that he was half expecting Richard to tell him to use it if they didn't get to Ostagar in time. The only reason she knew that was in a momentarily lapse in his mental defenses, the martian had seen Duncan burying his blade into another man's chest after he'd been tainted, only after he had begged for a clean death rather than the slow, painful end that had awaited him.

What had certainly surprised the group of heroes and the two Hawke siblings that were travelling with them was the way Morwen kept watch over him. She always made sure that he had eaten enough, and reserved most of his strength. In fact, it wasn't uncommon to find the young woman guarding him in his sleep. Artemis teased the other woman over her apparent crush, which Morwen simply shrugged off. Dick knew better though, she was using this whole situation to distract her from the pain she was feeling. He knew because he had done the same once, although he had disguised his true intentions behind a wall of wry humor.

However, his own deteriorating health and the coming battle weren't the only concerns that lay heavily on his mind. Zatanna had told him that she entered the Fade whenever she went to sleep now. The first day she had gotten lucky and had spent the night in the company of Alexandria, but the following nights she had been on her own. She hadn't been attacked, but she had told him that she could feel the presence of something that was watching her from afar, always far enough away to disappear if she tried to look for whatever it was that was watching her. So far she'd been unsuccessful, and he was torn between being happy about it and afraid for her should she ever succeed in meeting the watcher.

It didn't help that part of their delay, his own health aside, could be laid at Alexandria's feet. While no fault of her own, she had been unable to keep up with the rest of them. Her life in the Tower had prevented her from gaining any real muscle, and so she had found it difficult to keep up with their fast pace for any extended length of time. Still, she didn't complain, and did her best to keep up despite the fact she more often than not fell dead into her bedroll anytime they stopped for the night.

Whatever the case, he could only sigh as he rested a hand under his chin, stuck on Conner's broad shoulder for the fifth day in a row. He could do nothing but think, and thinking about things he couldn't change was going to drive him crazy long before they ever got to Ostagar. It didn't help that the running commentary going on around him was more or less directed at him. With a glance to the side though, he made sure that he still could see Zatanna's backside. At least he couldn't complain about the view.

"I _can_ feel you looking you know." Zatanna chuckled as she looked over her shoulder and threw Dick a flirtatious wink, much to Alex's amusement. The Circle mage and the magician had all but become attached at the hip since their first night in the Fade together. "I don't mind though, we did go out for a couple months after all."

"Fun times." Dick grinned in response, fondly remembering their first 'kidnapping' Zatanna, much to her father's anger later. Technically it had been her idea, but it had instantly endeared the sorceress to the still developing team when they'd been kids. "Was there any doubt we'd eventually get all _chalant_ after that whole Red Tornado fiasco?"

"Nope." Zatanna said with a laugh.

"Chalant?" Alex asked, sensing an interesting story there.

"Inside joke." Dick replied with a grin of his own.

"Ah." Alex said, slightly disappointed that she didn't get to hear the whole story, but perhaps they would tell her later.

"I hope you haven't been too distracted by Zatanna's rear end to notice that we're being watched, Bird Boy." Artemis said and effectively ruined the easygoing moment between them.

"I was wondering when someone would point that out." Thea muttered in turn and nodded to the left side of the path, her hand straying to the curved sword on her back.

"Easy guys." Dick said placatingly. "I already had to sign Morwen a few times not to do anything rash, I don't need anymore murderous women." Morwen looked over her shoulder and rolled her luminescent blue eyes at the jab, but didn't say anything.

"Wiseass." Thea said with a roll of her own orbs just as a man with pointed ears, dressed in light leather armor, walked out from behind a tree. A heavy birchwood bow was strapped to his back, the wood covered in intricate runes that seemed to be a part of the bow itself rather than carved into it. Green eyes met hers and she caught a flash of bronzed, long brown hair before he slid down the hill and onto the edge of the path. When he came to a stop, she wasn't the only one that saw the swirling tattoos on his left cheek that ran down his neck and disappeared underneath his armor. She briefly wondered if they went elsewhere, but she didn't ask. A brief glance at the other women in their group suggested she wasn't the only one who was curious about the new arrival.

"Ah, it is good to see you have made it this far my friend." Duncan said and firmly shook the man's hand once he was within reach.

"Duncan." The elf stated simply before letting his gaze wander over the group. "You managed to detect me, shemlens. Only a few can achieve such a thing. I'm impressed, honestly, although I heard you a mile away." His grin evaporated when he felt the sharp tip of a dagger at the back of his neck. A second glance told him the redhead with the blue eyes had disappeared, but he had a feeling he knew where she had gone. "Color me impressed."

"I thought that'd get your attention." Hawke chortled as she put her dagger away. Stepping in front of the elf, she batted her eyelashes at him. "So what is such a handsome strapping elf like yourself doing out here, all alone in the woods?" Her brother groaned and shook his head, all too used to his sister's antics.

The elf however was clearly uncomfortable with Hawke's playful flirting, and looked to Duncan for help. The older man had since turned around and continued walking, appearing for all intents and purposes completely oblivious to the exchange. The amused looks from the rest of the group told him that he wouldn't find any help there either. "Uh...well, that's a bit of a-"

"Long story? We all have those." Mirian finished for him, but backed off when she noted the uncomfortable gleam in his green eyes. "Well since you're heading our way, feel free to tell us if you like. My name's Mirian Hawke by the way."

"Camdor." The elf replied before falling in with the rest of the group. "The short story? Me and a friend went exploring, found a cave with an Eluvian. Explosion, friend disappeared, me infected with the taint. Go back to cave, find Duncan destroying the Eluvian, get recruited into the Grey Wardens, and sent to Ostagar. The end."

After an uncomfortable silence settled over the group, Dick shrugged and spoke up. "You too huh?"

"It would seem so." The elf replied, only then realizing that the human being carried looked more like a talking corpse than he did.

"Just a word of advice, look out for tall, dark and hooded over there. If you aren't careful, she'll get someone to carry you around like a sack of potatoes whether you want it or not, and that is just the beginning." Dick warned the elf, his whole demeanor utterly serious.

"I see. Shemlens are so strange to me, but I understand one thing already. You are fortunate to have such valiant companions. Few can claim that they have friends that are willing to fight the darkspawn for their sake." Camdor stated somberly, remembering all too well the feeling in the air before he had left his clan. Most of them had been afraid of him, of the taint running rampant through his body. Some had been downright outraged that he had survived while Tamlen had been taken to gods know where. Whatever the case, Camdor already envied these humans and their obvious ties to each other.

"Well, if you're with Duncan, then you're a Grey Warden recruit too, so I guess we're all brothers in arms." Dick said when he noticed the slightly sour expression on the elf's face. He hoped his words would shake Camdor out of his brooding and show him that he was a welcome addition to the group.

"Indeed." Was all Camdor said in return, but a flicker of a smile appeared on his angular face. Though it only lasted a moment before his expression morphed into one of surprise.

They had stepped out of the trees and could now see the huge tower that reached into the sky and showed them clearly that they had arrived at Ostagar at long last. The tower wasn't the only structure, a great stone bridge spanned a wide gorge. The guard walls were half as tall as the distant tower, and almost as thick, providing quite a bit of protection from invaders. While it was nothing compared to Metropolis, or any city they had on Earth, Ostagar was still impressive in its own way. "Guess this is our stop." Conner said, his own blue eyes riveted to the fortress before them, Wolf at his side and just as taken in by the intimidating structure before them.

"By the Maker, it's gigantic." Alexandria stammered out, having never seen anything so impressive in her life. Her sheltered life in the Circle tower hadn't afforded her a lot of chances to explore beyond the tower's walls.

"I've heard stories of Ostagar, being so close to it from Lothering, but they didn't do it justice I'll admit." Mrian stated, more than a little awed by the sheer size of the place as she let her own gaze sweep over the assorted groups of people that were even then running to and fro throughout the area. Messengers, those carrying supplies from one end of the fortification to the other, and more were visible as they continued deeper into the army's camp.

"I will notify the healers of our coming. They should have some potions that slow down the taint. Afterwards, I will try to get an audience with some of the senior mages, perhaps they can help." Morwen said, and without waiting for an answer, dashed off. Shadow gave chase, easily keeping pace with the robed woman's long stride.

The group continued at their own pace, though they could see a man in golden armor briefly talk to Morwen before letting her go on. He seemed to be expecting them from the broad smile on his face. "Ah Duncan, I was beginning to think you'd miss out on all the fun."

"Your Majesty, I wasn't-" Duncan began, but was quickly interrupted.

"Expecting a royal welcome?" King Cailan chuckled before gesturing towards the small army Duncan had been able to collect. He didn't seem bothered by the fact they were quite diverse, if anything it only seemed to intrigue him more. "I see you've been busy. I already met one of your new recruits, but she failed to mention you had so many at your back. Truly amazing Duncan."

"I was most fortunate your Majesty." Duncan intoned gravely but a brief smile tugged at his wrinkled face. "Though I fear time is short for two of my recruits, they have been infected by the taint."

"That is most unfortunate. I hope your Joining ritual will cure them of the disease. I'm half tempted to see what all the fuss is about, but I fear Loghain would probably send a search party after me." King Cailan said still smiling like he had just been told the most wonderful news in his life.

"As do I, your Majesty." Duncan replied, and made it a point to walk away and leave Cailan behind before addressing the assorted looks he knew he was receiving. "His Grace...is indeed quite fascinated by the Grey Wardens, some would say unhealthily so."

"You hinted at that the other day in Lothering. I thought you were exaggerating honestly." Zatanna replied, more than a little surprised that Duncan's warning had been understated.

"He certainly seems… optimistic." Dinah said carefully and looked at the others with a shrug.

"That's one word for it. Moronic would probably be more accurate." Artemis muttered with a roll of her gray eyes. "How is he the king again?"

"Birth probably had something to do with it." Conner grunted back. Duncan only sighed in response when he felt everyone's eyes on him.

"The king feels confident due to recent victories, and with the rest of our Order backing him, he is certain that it will be a swift victory." Duncan explained slowly. "And you would do well not to insult the king so openly." A less than subtle look at Artemis and Conner told the two all he needed to say.

Dinah thankfully stepped in before they could protest. "We'll be careful, won't we?" She asked, making it clear she wouldn't accept anything but a yes to her innocent sounding question. They grumbled but said nothing further, but it was enough as the older woman looked towards Duncan, concern in her blue eyes. "I get the feeling this isn't going to be as easy as King Cailan believes."

"No, I fear it will not be. A Blight has never been ended so easily." Duncan intoned somberly. "While he has chosen the ground of our confrontation wisely, I fear it won't be enough."

"What about the battle itself?" Dick asked as he squirmed out of Conner's grasp and stood on shaky legs.

"It _is_ possible for us to win this battle. King Cailan has employed the services of Templars, the mages of the Circle, many men from across the kingdom, and Teryn Loghain, a brilliant commander, to help him in winning the battles fought here at Ostagar already. Though that doesn't mean it will be so easy once the main horde assembles."

"Just to give us an idea about what we're facing. How long does a Blight usually last?" Thea asked curiously.

"Historically, Blights rarely end the same year they begin. If anything, it may take decades. The first Blight lasted over a century, and it nearly destroyed the world before the Grey Wardens found a way to end it." Duncan answered with an apologetic shrug.

"Well that's just great." Artemis groaned sarcastically. "I always wanted to grow old while fighting monsters."

"It could always be worse." Thea said with a shrug.

"How exactly?" Artemis shot back with narrowed eyes.

"You want the whole list?"

"Good point." Artemis sighed, only then realizing Duncan had led them up to the bridge and had started over it. She stopped for a moment, looking over the edge at the impressive view. "If we do get stuck here, at least the view's pretty nice." She mused, taken in by the miles of forest and mountainous terrain that laid out before her. She was used to the city perhaps, but she had always enjoyed finding herself deep in the wild places of the world, and Thedas was no different apparently.

"I suggest that you enjoy the view while you can, I fear it won't be long till it is spoiled." Duncan advised her, his eyes looking suddenly tired as he looked sadly upon a group of soldiers who had never seen combat before. They were frightened, and understandably so given what they'd be going up against soon. He dismissed them from his mind though as they continued on their way and stopped once they were on the other end of the stone bridge. "I have some business I must attend to. Feel free to explore, and when you're ready, find Alistair, another Grey Warden." Duncan nodded to Camdor and Dick before walking away. "Though I would appreciate it if you could locate Ser Jory and Daveth before returning with Alistair, they are your fellow recruits."

"Alright. See you soon." Dick replied before putting his arm over his mouth and coughing into the crook of his elbow. "The sooner the better really."

With that, Mirian put a hand on Dick's shoulder. "Good luck to you and your companions, Richard. You certainly need it more than us." Dragging Carver away before he could say anything that would require her to kick him, again, the Amells walked off, no doubt to find their own place in the coming battle.

"Dick." Morwen's voice said from the side the moment Hawke and Carver had gone. The dark clad woman looking at him from the shadows beneath her hood. "I found a mage that might be able to ease your symptoms."

Nightwing didn't know why, but for some reason, he got the feeling that Morwen had just gotten bad news. Her stance seemed more tense than before, and what little he could see of her luminescent blue eyes seemed to burn with anger. A quick glance at Megan confirmed that the maelstrom of emotions within the mysterious woman was anything but pleasant. Apparently Morwen picked up on it too since she made the effort to put more distance between herself and the martian.

He didn't get a chance to wonder before his gaze drifted to an elderly woman, a staff on her back and a warm, grandmotherly look about her. Alex took in a sharp breath and ran up to the old mage, a beaming smile on her face as she hugged the woman. "Wynne? I did not expect to find you here!"

"Alexandria, you look well." Wynne replied and smiled warmly down at the younger woman before gently disentangling herself from the exuberant Alex. "I heard you ran into some trouble at the Tower, are you alright dear?"

"I'm better, largely thanks to Duncan." Alex said and looked uncomfortable at the reminder, even if she couldn't deny she was also happy to see Wynne again.

"Ah, so it is true. You are to become a Grey Warden." Wynne said with a small smile at her erstwhile student. "I hope you know what responsibility that brings with it."

"Wynne." Alexandria whined, making it clear that this was hardly the first time the older woman had lectured her on responsibility.

To her credit, Wynne laughed and smiled a little wider. "Alright, I'll drop the subject, for now." She promised before turning her gaze elsewhere. "You're very fortunate young man, to have such a watchful companion as Morwen I believe she called herself."

"Yeah." Dick answered almost inaudibly. He knew she meant well, but it had gotten quite taxing. It was especially hard for someone like him who was used to doing things himself rather than let someone else do it.

"You do not approve, which means you're an independent young man." Wynne noted and nodded her head in approval. "Hold onto that, for not many appreciate what they have until they've lost it."

"Trust me, I know about loss far better than most."

"I apologize for interrupting this exchange, but could we please hurry. With each moment that passes he takes one step closer to death." Morwen butted in bluntly. "I would be happy to talk with all of you _after_ we have completed our Joining."

"Of course. Forgive this old lady her idle banter." Wynne said before starting away deeper into the camp. "This might take some time, depending on just how far the taint has spread. I can only delay it for a few more hours at most, but it should be enough considering how far you've come already."

"The elders in my clan were able to halt my own taint quite considerably. I'm sure you can manage it well enough." Camdor intoned, hoping to reassure more than Dick that he was in good hands as far as he could tell.

"I thank you for your kind words young man." Wynne replied with a nod at the elf. "However this will take a lot of concentration. So you should go, besides, I am certain that you have better things to do than watching an old woman."

"Yeah, like hunting down the other recruits." Thea supplied for Morwen's benefit.

"Indeed." Was all she said in return before walking away.

"We might as well grab more supplies while we're here.' Dinah said with a shrug, remembering the armor and weapons they had gotten back in Lothering. None of them had changed into their new gear, overall for the same reason. They had hoped to delay the inevitable that they were heading into war, and wearing armor would have only reminded them of that fact. But now? Now they didn't have much choice, not if they wanted to survive what was to come, at least improve their chances if nothing else.

Though to say that their choice of clothing attracted attention was a gross understatement. "Orlesians." They heard one man say, although it sounded more like a curse than a mere title regarding their choice of attire. The fact he had been looking at Zatanna and Dinah when he said it wasn't lost on anyone still in the clearing.

No sooner had the group split up to attend to any last minute details did Thea, Camdor, and Artemis wind up running into someone that immediately took an interest in the red hooded woman. "Well, hello there beautiful. What do you say, you and me meeting up to 'discuss' strategy before the battle?" The man said flirtatiously to Thea and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Really?" The archer asked, disdain all but dripping off of her tongue with every word. "You couldn't come up with a better pickup line than that?"

"It worked for that girl in Denerim." The man said with a shrug.

"She must have had pretty low standards then." Thea muttered dryly, clearly unimpressed by the rogue's attempt to flirt with her.

"Oh witty! Beauty and brains, is there anything you can't do?" The man continued still smiling, apparently not the least bothered by the fact that his earlier attempts to woo her ended in utter failure.

He wasn't smiling when Thea grabbed his arm and casually threw him over her body before putting her boot at his throat. "I don't know, why don't you tell me?"

"Point taken. Nice moves pint size." Thea raised an eyebrow since few people usually smirked after being tossed around by her. Still, she helped the man to his feet and immediately had to push him back when he leaned in a little too close for her liking. "Name's Daveth."

"That's fortunate, we were looking for you." Camdor said, surprised that this unsavory looking man had turned out to be one of the Warden recruits.

"He's fortunate throwing him was all she did." Artemis muttered, chuckling low in her throat as she took up a spot against a nearby stone pillar and leaned against it.

Daveth didn't seem affected by the hostility radiating off of most of the assembled. If anything, it only seemed to encourage him. "So just how many of you are going to be falling behind our rugged leader Duncan? It'd be nice to know who has my back and who's wanting to put a dagger in it."

"Camdor, someone called Ser Jory, me and another one." Morwen said when she joined the group and narrowed her eyes at the thief. "Any idea where we might find this Ser Jory? Or Alistair?"

"Ser Jory? Knight from Highever right? Ser Stick in the Mud is over by that Chantry lot. As for Alistair, I haven't seen him yet, but I hear he was running errands." Daveth supplied with a charming grin.

"Thank you." Morwen answered without sounding like she meant it, leaving Camdor and the two archers with Daveth. She turned around and walked towards the group of tents that had the symbol of the Chantry on them, the radiant sun done in yellow or red, depending on its background.

She looked around for any sign of someone who might be a Grey Warden recruit. She hardly batted an eyelash when Zatanna seemed to appear from behind a tree along the path. "Following me now? Megan I could understand, given her...abilities, but why you?"

"No reason, I'm just bored standing around." Zatanna shrugged and fell in step with the robed woman. Her reasons were her own, just as Morwen's were hers. But that didn't stop the magician from being curious about their new surroundings.

They were interrupted before the hooded woman got the chance to answer. "Greetings, have you come to receive the blessing of the Maker?" The Chantry priest asked them pleasantly.

"We're just looking for someone ma'am." Zatanna politely stated. "Have you seen a Ser Jory, from Highever I believe?"

"My ladies." A man said before the priestess could reply. Standing to his feet amidst a small group of fellow soldiers, the knight pushed his way past the others before holding out his hand to Morwen. When she didn't take it, he hesitantly turned to Zatanna instead who returned the gesture. "Are you more of Duncan's brave recruits? I wasn't aware that women were permitted to join the Wardens."

"She is, I'm just a tagalong." Zatanna smirked playfully before a thoughtful frown pulled at her lips. "Although I have to ask why you'd find that strange."

"I apologize if I have caused offense. I just have never heard of a female Warden before." Ser Jory rambled and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Women are just as capable as men last I checked." Morwen stated softly, her tone holding a hint of a threat despite her innocent comment. "We do not need to hide behind men."

"O-of course, but may I ask for your names. You obviously already know mine." Ser Jory stuttered out, a blush spreading across his face.

"Morwen." Was her curt, terse response.

"Zatanna Zatarra." The magician cheerfully replied with a sweeping bow, as if she were taking off a hat and waving it before her. Too many years on stage as a professional 'illusionist', when she hadn't been working with the Justice League, had that effect. "And don't mind her, she's been grouchy since I've met her."

Morwen didn't respond to Zatanna's jab and instead continued to look at Ser Jory. "Could you tell us where to find Alistair? Duncan said we needed to find him before we could proceed, and time is of essence."

"The last time I saw him, he was told to deliver a message to one of the mages." Pointing towards another part of the ancient fortress, Jory turned back to the odd pair. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help than that my ladies."

"It's fine, it gives us a place to start."

"Indeed. I suggest you find Duncan, we will return as soon as possible." With that, Morwen started off, determined to see this through. She hardly heard Jory's goodbye as she and Zatanna moved on to the stone gazebo that he had gestured towards. "Why are you following me, really?" Morwen asked once they had left the knight behind.

"Besides the fact this place is crawling with Templars that I'm in no hurry to face alone?" Zatanna said with another shrug of her shoulders. Although she had no personal gripe with the Templars, she had spent the last five days learning about them from Alexandria. What she had learned hadn't sat well with her.

"You could have stayed with your friends." Morwen replied curtly, making it clear she wanted to be left alone, but Zatanna only smirked at her efforts to drive her off.

"And leave you to stalk around this place by yourself? Besides, I'm naturally curious about what's happening here."

Morwen regarded the magician severely for several seconds before she started forward once again. "You're a terrible liar."

"Thanks!" Zatanna replied cheerfully.

"That wasn't a compliment." Morwen deadpanned in reply.

"Perhaps you didn't intend it to be one, but you just told me that I'm very honest. Which I'm deciding to take as a compliment." Zatanna shot back, still rather cheerfully.

Despite her annoyance at having to deal with someone that was far too happy for her liking, the rogue couldn't find the heart to continue her efforts to push Zatanna away. "Good point." Morwen conceded with a slight shrug and climbed the stairs that would hopefully lead them towards their destination. From the sound of it though, they could hear someone shouting. "I think we found our man."

"-right, I was harassing you by delivering a message." One man said, a dry, sarcastic edge to his voice that had Zatanna smirking as they reached the top of the stairs. They soon saw a heavily armored young man talking to an older, bald mage.

"Fine, I will talk to the Revered Mother." The mage relented before pushing past the knight and stomping away. "Get out of my w-...wait. Who are you?" He asked when his hand fell on Zatanna's arm, intending to push past her. Instead, he paused and regarded her, but something in his gaze had the magician's skin crawling uncomfortably.

Zatanna felt something unnatural just underneath the surface of the man's skin when his hand touched her arm. It felt cold, yet at the same time she detected something else, something that reminded her of being in the presence of a predator, about to pounce upon its prey. Whatever it was, it froze whatever snappy comeback she had been ready to throw in his face.

"That's none of your concern." Morwen growled out, her protective instinct taking over when she saw the discomfort on Zatanna's face. Shadow, who had remained quiet this whole time, started truly growling, only adding to her menacing words. To that end, Morwen grabbed his wrist and twisted it to the side so he was forced to let go. "Now begone!" With that, she pushed the mage as far away from Zatanna as she could without throwing him to the ground.

The mage scrambled to his feet and sent a glare at Morwen that she completely ignored. With one last curse he walked away, but not before sending Zatanna a curious look. "Wow...that was...interesting. And I thought I was the only one that had such a way with people." As one, they turned to see the knight had since closed the gap between them. "Sorry, my name's Alistair, although you probably guessed that."

Morwen ignored the knight for the moment save for sending a nod of recognition towards him and focused on Zatanna. "Are you alright? Did he do something to you?" The second question was asked with obvious anger in her voice, making it clear that if the answer was anything but a 'No' the mage who had just left wouldn't live long enough to fight against the darkspawn.

"Whoa there Morwen, he just creeped me out. Reminded me of a couple of mages I've run into….during my travels." She was careful to say, mindful of their audience of one. Morwen let it go, much to Zatanna's relief as she turned to Alistair next. "And yeah we heard about you. Your charm could use some work though." She teased, to which Alistair shrugged and smirked in response.

"You aren't the first one to tell me this and I'm fairly sure you won't be the last. I guess you're Duncan's new recruits?" He asked them with an easygoing smile.

"Oh she is, I'm just an unlucky associate of hers." Zatanna shot back and cocked her hip to the side. "But what was that all about? He didn't seem happy about being 'harassed'."

"Considering I'm an ex-Templar and the Revered Mother sent me to talk to the mages? He picked right up on that. Uh...you aren't mages too are you?" He asked, suddenly uncertain as his eyes went back and forth between Morwen and Zatanna like a pair of ping pong balls.

"I am, but I'm not offended or anything." Zatanna chuckled, her pale blue eyes twinkling in amusement when Alistair's face brightened moments later.

Alistair immediately let out a breath in relief at the news. "Ah, It's nice to meet a Circle mage that doesn't hate my guts."

"I'm not exactly a Circle mage." Zatanna was quick to point out.

"But you aren't a Grey Warden, so that means you're a-"

"She is a friend." Morwen said and narrowed her eyes at him. "A valued member of our group."

"Whoa! Ex-templar, I think I said." Alistair was quick to say again and held up his hands in an effort to calm Morwen. "I don't have a problem with apostates, so long as they aren't trying to melt my face off. But I would keep that under your hat, for obvious reasons."

"I already got the memo, don't worry." Zatanna smiled and shook her head, unable to contain her laughter if she had tried. "And I don't melt faces on impulse. It would be kind of a waste with a face like yours."

Alistair's face promptly turned a deep shade of red and he looked anywhere but at Zatanna. "Um, thanks… anyway, I am sure Duncan sent you. Yes! We have very important Grey Warden business, right now. Uh, follow me."

With that he promptly turned around before realising that he had turned in the wrong direction and that he had to walk past Zatanna to reach Duncan. He whirled around again, this time looking even redder than before and walked past them, his eyes fixed on the ground before him. A ghost of a smile pulled at Morwen's lips while Zatanna had to put a gloved hand over her mouth and giggle at the man's actions. "I like him." Zatanna whispered to Morwen, who only shook her head again. This promised to be quite entertaining.

The two women followed Alistair towards the huge bonfire Duncan awaited them at. Dick was situated on a stone bench, Dinah at his side while Artemis stood behind them with Thea at her side. Megan and Conner were on the bench five feet away with Camdor and Alexandria behind them. Jory and Daveth had their own spot across the way. While most of them weren't to become Grey Wardens, Duncan had a feeling it wouldn't matter since they would talk about it later one way or the other. So he saw little point in trying to keep this part at least under wraps.

"Alistair, I see you've met Morwen and Zatanna." He mused, catching the red tint to his cheeks before he continued. "I take it you were gentle with him?"

"I barely flirted with him and he went red as a tomato." Zatanna shot back, much to Alistair's embarrassment as he let out a groan.

Duncan chuckled quietly in response. "I see, regardless of that we must proceed." With that he nodded towards the group at large, his gaze falling to each of the potential recruits among them. "You will go into the Korcari Wilds for two reasons. First you must retrieve several vials of darkspawn blood, one for each recruit."

"What's the second task?" Morwen asked calmly and checked her fellow recruits for signs of nervousness. Dick seemed only… sick, with Camdor not far behind, but both of them seemed resolute to see this through. Daveth had raised both his eyebrows before shrugging indifferently, Alexandria had paled a little but looked determined, and Ser Jory… looked like he was going to pass out any minute.

"The Grey Wardens once had an outpost in the wilds, hidden within is a chest that contains treaties that are invaluable to our Order. You will need to retrieve them." Duncan explained, half of his face shrouded in shadows.

"Why weren't they collected before now?" Dinah asked, curiosity and something else in her voice. It could have passed for mild disdain for their neglect, but she kept her opinion mostly to herself. A lot must have happened for them to abandon something so valuable, and it wasn't her place to point fingers. This wasn't their world, but it was their fight, regardless of the original reason for them being there.

"A lot of things were...assumed before and after we had to abandon the outpost. Much has been lost since then, but the treaties might be required now. They are ancient agreements with the other races, calling them to aid the Wardens during a Blight." Duncan explained softly, regret and more in his voice.

"Okay, then let's get going." Artemis said with a shrug.

"I'm afraid you will have to remain here. This is part of the Joining, and only Grey Wardens are permitted." Duncan said and looked at Dick's friends. "I can understand your reluctance to let him go on without you, but I ask you to trust in his abilities and those of his companions."

Artemis glowered at Duncan in response. Anyone else would have been intimidated, but the senior Warden simply looked right back at her dispassionately. It was clear that he had seen far worse things than her glares. Only when Dick stood to his feet did all eyes fall on him. "Stand down Artemis. I appreciate your concern, all of yours really, but this is getting real old real quick. I'm sick, not made of glass. But if this works out, then hopefully we can get back to the real reason we're here, fighting the darkspawn."

"Fine." Artemis huffed, clearly annoyed by the fact that Dick had decided to agree with Duncan's demand.

"We'll watch out for your companion, my lady." Jory said, drawing the archer's gray eyed glare onto himself. "If we are to face the darkspawn together, then it only makes sense we start protecting and looking out for each other now."

"I'll hold you to that pal." While Thea said nothing as she put a hand on Artemis's shoulder, Jory saw the unspoken promise in her own gaze. Failure was not an option with these two.

"And I thought your small friend had a temper on her. Well, what are we waiting for? I for one wouldn't mind getting this business over with." Daveth declared before shooting Richard a cheerful smirk. "Unless you two would like to find a bush and work out some frustration?"

"Maybe we'll get traught later." Richard chuckled and ducked when Artemis took a half hearted swing at him, a small grin pulling at her lips despite her efforts to keep it concealed.

"Traught?" Alex asked, confused for the second time in as many hours before she shook her head and sighed. "Nevermind, another inside joke I imagine."

"Alistair, you have the command. May the Maker watch over you." Duncan intoned solemnly before grasping Alistair's arm above the elbow.

"May the Maker watch over us all." The ex-templar replied and returned the firm grasp before turning to the group. "Well, who's up for a leisurely stroll through a darkspawn infested forest?" His smile faltered when most of the new recruits gave him strange looks before starting for the gate that would lead them out into the Korcari Wilds. "Wow, tough audience."

"Don't take it personally Alistair." Dick said as he reluctantly put a hand on the dagger belt Morwen had tossed his way. "Personally, I'm just happy to be able to use my own legs again. Being carried this whole way got old real quick."

"Keep talking and I'll happily knock you out and get your vial of darkspawn blood myself." Morwen retorted before her hard scowl softened somewhat. "But if it's any consolation, I do apologize for...taking this whole thing as far as I have Richard."

Nightwing put a hand on her back and silently conveyed his thanks for her concern, as heavy handed as it had been. "It's fine Morwen. I might complain about it, but it actually wasn't that bad." What he left unsaid, again, was that he understood why all too well. A quick look towards his friends, who had since started out of the circle of stone arches, said they were all too aware as well in their respective ways. Turning his head back to Morwen after he finished preparing for the trek before him, Dick ran a hand through his messy dark hair and nodded to the other side of the camp, past the kennels where the rest of the recruits were already waiting. "Let's get this done. Then we can worry about the rest later."

Morwen blinked and stared at Richard for a moment, a little surprised by what she had detected in his voice. She had seen him take command before, when it had been necessary during a few brief scuffles between his friends, but this felt different. He had sounded far older than he looked. She knew that he was a capable leader having seen how the rest of his group deferred to him even though he could barely stand, but right now she didn't want to burden him with the command of the group, even if technically Alistair was in charge of their foray into the Wilds.

That didn't stop Morwen from coming up with group placements the moment she and Richard caught up with the other Grey Warden recruits. "I suggest that Daveth, Alexandria and Camdor stay in the back and support us from afar. Alistair, Ser Jory and me in the front. Richard should support us when he gets the chance, but his main task should be to ensure that no one gets near our archers and Alexandria."

"I can get behind that. I'm just here as support anyway really." Alistair said with a shrug. "I might be the senior warden here, but I'm not here to make it easy. Wouldn't be much point to this little test otherwise."

Dick sighed, he knew that Morwen was right, in his weakened state he was no use in the front lines, not that he actually rarely fought in a fair sense of the word. He had been trained to hit from the shadows wherever possible since he was nine years old, a 'fair fight' didn't enter into his methods. That didn't mean that he enjoyed being the odd man out, regulated to glorified bodyguard due to his weakened condition. "Understood." He grumbled in reluctant agreement of the plan.

While the recruits left through the gate once the guards let them passed, Dinah and the rest of the team watched them go from the circle of stone arches with the bonfire at their back. She didn't need to see their collection of concerned looks to know they were worried, she was also concerned. "I don't like this." Dinah heard Artemis mutter quietly. "We should be with them, not splitting up the team, again. Last time that didn't end so well for us."

"You're telling me, but we don't have a lotta choice this time. This is Duncan's area of expertise." Zatanna replied, even though she wanted nothing more than to run down there and help them in this.

"I understand your worry, but I wouldn't have recruited him if I didn't think him capable of pulling through." Duncan assured her as he continued to gaze into the fire. The shadows seemed to highlight every wrinkle on his face and for the first time since they met him Duncan seemed truly tired.

"Duncan, are you alright?" Dinah asked, worried for the man. She had noticed that the Warden had trouble sleeping at night, which she knew could have been for any number of reasons, but something, like a lot of things about the Warden, told her it wasn't as simple as the people he had seen killed or the friends he had lost.

"I am fine, Dinah. Or at least I will be, soon."

"You're never going to give me a straight answer are you?" Dinah asked, her gaze torn between slight amusement and annoyance at his ever evasive tactics. If she hadn't known any better, she would have said she was talking with Bruce.

Duncan sighed and looked at the team behind her and then back at the blond woman in front of him. "Let's just say that my days have come to an end." He told her quietly as not to be overheard by someone else.

"You're dying?"

"In a manner of speaking...you could say that."

"Why do I get the feeling it's related to your Grey Wardening?" Thea chimed in before Dinah could.

"I don't know young one. Though you seem to be suspicious of a lot of people." Duncan replied wryly and looked at Thea and a silent Artemis with a raised eyebrow. Both archers wore matching expressions of suspicion and doubt, making it clear that while they weren't blood related, they were very much a family in their own way.

"I don't hear you denying it either." Thea retorted and crossed her arms, her frown deepening with every word.

"If you truly wish to know, I have… been sick for a long time, and now my illness is finally catching up to me." Duncan said with a sad smile before turning back to the fire, making it clear that the conversation was over.

 _Yet another secret he won't share._ Conner mentally grumbled, M'gann having established her telepathic link long ago among the team. _But he told the truth, as far as I could tell anyway._

 _And I doubt there's anything we can do for him if it really is connected to him being a Warden._ M'gann sighed and looked away from the fire and into Conner's face. _I hate this not knowing, and then he sends Dick and everyone else into the Wilds? The more I hear about the Wardens, the more I'm starting to wonder if we're doing the right thing here._

 _It's either that or letting Dick die._ Artemis replied and shot a look at Megan. _But I don't like it either. I wonder if this is how the world feels about the League?_

 _We keep secrets because we have to!_ The moment the thought left her, Megan slapped a hand over her face since she realized too late how hypocritical she had just sounded.

 _So what's different with Duncan and his buddies exactly?_ Thea chimed in, before holding up a hand when M'gann started to reply. _I might be the new kid on the block, at least with you guys, but there's gotta be a good reason why Duncan's been keeping so tight lipped about the Wardens. And from what I've seen, these folks are pretty superstitious and stupidly religious as a whole. Pitchforks and flaming torches held by an angry mob wouldn't surprise me at this rate._

 _I guess it's not any different, it's just… this is Dick we're talking about. One of our best friends._ Megan thought morosely.

 _Yeah, but you know him. He would rather get the chance to live and fight evil than die from some stupid super plague._ Thea replied and shrugged before letting her hands fall to her sides. _If it's any consolation though, I'm worried about Bird Brain too M'gann. Something about this whole thing stinks. And them having to collect darkspawn blood? That seems a little dark and gothic to me._

 _Been hitting the Twilight series again Speedy?_ Artemis butted in, but her comment didn't have the usual bite to it since she shared Thea's opinion. Something about that just didn't sit right with her.

That didn't stop Thea from retaliating. _Shut up Artemis._

 _Let's just hope all this running around is worth it._ Conner sighed, and looked towards the Korcari Wilds. He really hoped this worked, because as much as he had started to like Duncan, he wasn't sure what he'd do if he lost another of his best friends.

"You should rest." Duncan suddenly said and looked at the group before him. "I will await their return here." Whether he was aware of their telepathic conversation or not was impossible to say, but in the end it didn't matter since the man had a point, although no one wanted to admit it aloud. Still, the Grey Warden watched them go one by one to gather their strength for the battles to come, his own thoughts far from the fire before him.

 **End Notes;** _ **Nomad-117:**_ _That was chapter 7. I hope you all enjoyed it, and as you can tell they finally made it to Ostagar. And you know what that means. (Diabolical laughter) Have fun with the following chapters._

_**Vergil1989** _ _; We promise not to kill anyone too important between now and the end of the slaughter we all know and hate with a passion. (Cue evil laughter of your choice here.) Seriously though, we've been talking, and Duncan and Cailan might not be the only ones falling before this is over. As to who we may or may not have chosen for the axe, well, you'll just have to wait and see. So sorry. Not really. : P See ya!_


	8. Into the Wilds

**Chapter 8; Into the Wilds**

**The Korcari Wilds**

It hadn't taken long for Richard and his new companions to notice something foul was in the air. The Korcari Wilds themselves were more of a swamp than a forest, but that in itself wasn't bad. Spying old, ancient ruins half buried in the swamp's murky depths, he thought he remembered overhearing Alex mention there had once been a Kossith colony out here. The history lesson wasn't important though. As for the swamp itself, he'd been through every conceivable environment on Earth at some point or another, survival training had been part of his education as Batman's protege, but here, something had his nerves on edge. He had a feeling he knew why given what they were up against. As if to prove that point, not five minutes after walking away from the fortress, they had been set upon by wild wolves.

"The books in the Circle said that wolves usually don't attack humans unless provoked, so why did these?" Alex asked worriedly and glanced at the corpses of the freshly slain animals.

"My guess is that the darkspawn forced them to leave their territory, they simply acted like any animal would if pushed into a corner." Camdor said as he knelt by one of the wolves and pulled the arrow out he had fired into its skull. He was relieved to see that he hadn't broken the shaft or damaged the arrow's head before putting it back into the quiver on his back before he stood to his feet. "That and the presence of those same darkspawn probably spooked the otherwise unchallenged hunter in the area. Even wolves can be scared when faced with a superior threat."

"I wonder if it is possible to scare the darkspawn, or at least make them wary of someone?" Morwen quietly mused to herself and sent a glance towards Dick and Camdor. She was worried for both of them due to them being infected with the taint. With that in mind, she just hoped that they would be quick enough to get back and get them their cure.

"Now the animals want to kill us too? And here I was getting worried that this would be a boring trip." Daveth joked and retrieved his own arrows.

"Animals at least I can understand. These darkspawn though are truly something to be feared." Jory muttered and shivered nervously before he perked up when Alistair's hand fell on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. The darkspawn might have their tricks, but Grey Wardens have been fighting them for over a thousand years, and we're still here. Whatever their cunning, they won't take us down without a fight." Alistair reassured the knight before casting his eyes on the rest of the group. "With that in mind, we should hurry. I'd rather not be out here at night if I can avoid it."

"No argument here." Richard agreed as he nodded towards the only Warden in their group.

Not bothering to sheath their weapons, the group continued down the small, barely visible path that lead them deeper into the the wilderness. It wasn't long before Dick noticed the all too familiar stench of blood and decay. It wasn't long after that they saw close to a dozen dead soldiers, slain and left to rot all over the ground, some of them in scattered body parts. "Glad to see they aren't any different here." He muttered darkly just as Morwen stopped by his side. She didn't need an explanation, figuring he meant the darkspawn he and his friends had ran into on their home world. Neither noticed the way Camdor's pointed ears twitched, or the curious look he gave Richard before Morwen started forward, pushing her way to the front of the group.

"We should check for survivors." The hooded woman ordered, but sent a worried look in Alexandria's direction. Every other member of their group had participated in combat in one form or another, the bloodbath before them hardly something new, but the mage had never dealt with such brutality. Inwardly, the human noble was worried how Alex would deal with something like this. So she wasn't all that surprised when the mage turned white as a sheet and looked ready to lose her lunch at the slightest provocation.

Just when Morwen started to reach out and try to reassure the girl though, Alex swallowed the lump in her throat and walked forward. "I...cannot turn away. If I do, I'll never be able to face what's coming. If the Harrowing taught me anything, it's that fear can destroy you a lot quicker than any demon." Something in her tone said she wasn't talking solely about the test that had seen her become a full fledged mage, but no one said anything.

Instead, Morwen put her gloved hand on the center of Alex's back, getting the mage's attention. "You're right, fear can easily destroy someone, but that doesn't mean that you should disregard it or feel ashamed. Fear is only natural, it warns us of danger, and when you are afraid, then keep your eyes open. Perhaps you have already discovered the source of danger, and not even realize it. Whatever the case, do not simply block it out is all I'm saying." Alex nodded and managed a small smile in gratitude for Morwen's words. Alistair watched it all silently in approval, glad to see that they were bonding already. Grey Wardens or not, their chances of survival went up considerably the more they trusted each other and drew on the other's strengths.

Richard was also silently evaluating them in his own way. For all of Daveth's bravado, he was braver than Jory by far. If Dick was honest with himself, a part of him disliked Jory immensely. The man was pleasant enough, but he was almost possessed by the thought of glory without sacrifice. Camdor had mostly kept to himself thus far, offering only snippets of conversation unless addressed directly, thus making it difficult to get a measure of the elf, but his combat skills were pretty impressive in their own right. He had been the first to fire into the wolf pack without a thought. But Richard had noticed that he kept close to Morwen and Alex, as if acting as a silent guardian in his own way.

Alistair was both easy and complex at the same time. He wore an easygoing smile, made jokes about himself and the situation at hand with startling ease, most likely a defense mechanism, and he was skilled with his sword and shield. But scratch the surface and Dick saw there was a lot more going on behind his simplistic approach. He had already heard the man was an ex-Templar thanks to Zatanna, but Dick was certain that there were far more interesting secrets in the man's past. The fact he had looked rather similar to King Cailan for example. While it could have been mere coincidence, something in Richard's gut said otherwise. And if there was one thing Bruce had drilled into him since the beginning, it was to trust his instincts.

A cry for help dragged Richard from his thoughts, and he belatedly realized that most of the group had ran off ahead, leaving him behind. "H-help me." A wounded man moaned once they turned him over to check his breathing. He was so covered with blood that they couldn't even be certain where he was wounded, let alone how serious it was. But a closer look said that the worst of the damage was to his lower right side.

"I can heal him, but it won't be anywhere near what Wynne can do." Alex offered while Alistair dug out some bandages to patch up what the mage couldn't handle herself.

"Will he make it back to camp?" Morwen asked simply and knelt down next to the wounded man.

"Yes, I'm certain." Alex replied with a nod.

"Then do it. It may sound callous, but we can't spare anyone to go with him, not if we want Richard and Camdor to survive." Alex gave Morwen an uncomfortable look but reluctantly nodded before her hands started to glow a pale blue. Energy poured out of her and into the wounded soldier at her feet, enveloping him from head to foot. It only lasted a few moments, but by the time she was done, Alex looked paler than before while the soldier appeared to have regained some color.

"Th-thank you. I think I can make it back now." The man said before his eyes darted over the group. He saw nothing but grim determination in varying degrees on all of them, but that didn't stop him from giving them a fearful report of how he'd gotten so torn up in the first place. "If you're planning to head deeper into the Wilds, I'd turn back. The darkspawn are all over the place. They wiped out my entire group….I was the only one that made it this far. They came right out of the ground they did. We never had a chance."

"I thank you for your warning, but duty demands that we continue on." Morwen replied calmly. "Return to camp and make sure that you are fully healed before going on another mission."

The soldier nodded at them and turned around, running as fast as he was able to down the path they had just come from. The moment his footsteps could no longer be heard, Ser Jory turned to the rest of the group, eyes wide with fear. "Did you hear that? An entire patrol destroyed."

"What's your point Ser knight?" Daveth asked, clearly unfazed by the news.

"My point is that they were seasoned warriors and they stood no chance against the darkspawn."

"Seasoned warriors." Morwen scoffed, while Camdor only raised an eyebrow. "I find it amusing that the common thief has bigger balls than you, _knight_. Besides, we have something they didn't." She nodded to Alistair, who nodded back even as a frown pulled at his lips.

"Know this Ser Jory, Grey Wardens are able to sense the darkspawn, they won't take us by surprise." Alistair promised the whole group, though his eyes stayed on Jory. A quick glance at Richard said that he too was starting to wonder about their companion.

"You see Ser Knight, they might kill us, but we'll be warned about it first." Daveth cheerfully exclaimed.

"That's reassuring?" Ser Jory asked the whole group with an uncertain glance.

"Look at it this way, facing and overcoming these dangers are a part of the test." Dick said to Jory, though even he had to admit that his patience was dangerously thin regarding the knight. Normally he'd have been more understanding, more patient with even the most young and inexperienced of his teammates back home, but this was not home, and this was not the usual situation he was used to.

"I… I mean you are right. Let's continue on." Ser Jory said and turned back to the blood stained path.

They had walked for perhaps five more minutes before Morwen, who had taken up the role of a scout, discovered another body. Though this one didn't look like a soldier. If anything, she immediately thought of a Chantry priest, far from home. His robes, dirty from both the road and the blood from his wounds, couldn't hide the symbol of the Chantry embossed on his chest. A missionary perhaps? She hardly glanced up when Richard knelt down next to her, an unspoken question on his face. "Missionary, perhaps hoping to educate the Chasind that live out here. Apparently his name was Rigby." She said and lifted a piece of parchment that had been clutched in the man's right hand. After handing it off to Richard to read, she looked through his pockets and retrieved a small box. "In there are his possessions, he wanted someone called Jetta to receive them, she lives in Redcliffe."

"Then we'll see it done." Richard said and looked up just in time to see a flicker of recognition on Alistair's face at the mention of Redcliffe. He made a mental note to ask about it later as he tucked the box into one of his utility belt's pouches for now. _Never leave home without it. Right behind never go to the bathroom without it, as Wally once said._ He mentally sighed, missing the speedster greatly, but he had to focus on the task at hand.

Alistair suddenly tensed up and gripped his sword more tightly. "There are darkspawn up ahead!" He said with a touch of anger. It was more than enough for Morwen and Daveth to charge ahead while Alistair and Jory brought up the next row, with Richard, Camdor, and Alex bringing up the rear.

However, the darkspawn had other plans than to simply wait for them to arrive, they met their charge with one of their own. And further to their dismay, they were just as coordinated here as they had been back on Earth as Richard spotted archers and a mage in the far back, giving them clear lines of sight on any who approached. The melee combatants were made up of Hurlocks while the archers were the more fragile Genlocks. Regardless of size, both kinds glared at the group of recruits with almost unfathomable hatred. Just as Dick closed within striking distance of the first though, he was brought up short when the first Hurlock looked towards him with something close to brotherly acceptance. And he could have sworn he heard….something in the back of his mind, calling to him.

He didn't get the chance to further investigate before Morwen attacked the beast viciously. One stroke after another hit the Hurlock in, as Richard was quick to notice, non-vital areas, though each stab made sure that the darkspawn was in immense pain. It seemed that even the darkspawn were not immune to pain as the beast cried out in agony. "Fight with us or stay back Richard!" Morwen shouted as she nimbly dodged a second Hurlock's blade before burying her blades into his neck and dragging him down.

Shaking off whatever had stopped him cold, Richard soon joined the melee, and not a moment too soon. Despite a valiant effort on her part as a stream of withering flames shot out of her staff, Alex was nearly overwhelmed as two Genlock rogues pushed through the fire. Despite their hideous burns, they were just within striking distance before Richard charged between them, sliding to his knees and sweeping his blades out, just behind their legs. Hamstringing them both as he passed, he jumped to his feet in a flawless rising spin, and sliced into their chests and necks before coming to a stop in front of the astonished mage. The two genlocks were just as surprised before they fell backwards, dead long before they hit the dirt.

Ser Jory swung his sword in great arcs, any darkspawn that was foolish enough to get in the way of his blade was swiftly cut apart. Alistair for his part was more defensive, deflecting a few hits with his shield before letting loose with a vicious shield bash. The darkspawn was thrown onto his back and before it got the chance to get up again, it found a blade buried in its throat.

Camdor wasn't without his own tricks as he scaled a tree and took up a sniper's nest, picking off the archers with uncanny precision. Considering he was a Dalish elf, and had all but been born with a bow in hand though, none of the Ferelden natives were surprised by his skill. When he went to shoot the darkspawn mage however, the creature threw up a barrier around himself, blocking the otherwise lethal shots. Seeming to accept that he wouldn't be getting through the barrier with regular arrows, he pulled a different kind from his quiver, stored in a separate section in the animal hide pack on his back, and brought it up to eye level on his bow. "This is for Tamlen." He whispered before letting the arrow fly. The explosion that followed shattered the magical barrier, and sent the mage falling to its back just as Morwen got within melee range.

A moment later, the mage's agonized screams echoed across the landscape before they were suddenly silenced by a swing of Morwen's sword. "Hmm, that didn't work as well as I expected." The cloaked woman muttered in a detached manner.

"What didn't work?" Alex asked, utterly confused and more than a little intimidated by Morwen's cruelty.

"I get it." Dick said with sudden realization and looked at Morwen in surprise. "You wanted to see if you could terrify the darkspawn by letting them suffer first."

"Fear is a useful weapon in the right hands, used in the right way." Morwen explained with a shrug of her shoulders.

"So you would torture your opponent to gain an advantage. I don't know if I should be repulsed or angry at you for stooping to their level." Dick retorted as he pushed past Morwen before stopping and spinning on his heel. His morality wouldn't allow him to remain silent, not on this. He'd seen what happened when those who fought injustice used the same methods as those they fought against. The results were never pretty. "Be careful when you fight an enemy you don't become them."

"If fear can be used against the darkspawn, then why shouldn't we use it? I will gladly face your disgust if it means that through my actions others can live." Morwen replied utterly calm. "The difficulty is to be as cruel as your enemy without becoming them true, though I fear you are closer to becoming like them than I am by far." She finished with a pitying look.

"Not to interrupt this lovely conversation," Alistair said and made it a point to stand between the robed woman and Richard before they could kill each other, "but the darkspawn _can't_ be intimidated. Trust me, the Grey Wardens have tried everything we can think of to stop them. Duncan has often said that when a Blight begins, they are especially driven to see their goals accomplished. Nothing short of death will change that." He couldn't say why without revealing secrets they weren't ready to hear yet, but Alistair was relieved to see the simmering rage on their respective faces cool somewhat.

"I see. Unfortunate but it can't be changed I suppose." Morwen said with a slight shrug. Richard only narrowed his eyes and watched the woman walk off, but said nothing.

Alistair shivered, having never seen such an intense look on another person's face before in his life. Not even Duncan had looked so intimidating in the time the ex-Templar had known him. It made him curious as to what that particular young man had experienced before now.

"Let's go." Richard muttered, clearly still upset and followed Morwen, though he was sure to keep his distance. If it bothered Morwen, she didn't show it as she marched onward, doing a passable impression of a giant raven the way her cloak fluttered and danced behind her with every determined step.

They engaged the darkspawn three more times before they even got a chance to look at the tower. By then, Richard had found strange markings engraved on rocks and the trees around them, a Chasind marker according to Alex. A note they found later confirmed this, indicating there was a weapons cache somewhere in the woods. They left it be for now though, determined to find the treaties first before doing anything else. Besides, despite his anger at Morwen, they had both noticed that they were being watched. "Something's out there." Nightwing said, just as a black raven flew off from a nearby tree. "I get the feeling we're being watched."

"I noticed as well." She replied. "But so long as the watcher doesn't make the mistake of attacking us, we should just ignore them."

"Are you sure? We could try to look for them." Alex hesitantly argued back.

"I understand your reasoning, if they attack in the right moment they could very well cause our deaths. Unfortunately neither Richard nor Camdor have the luxury of time on their side." Morwen calmly replied before turning her gaze back to the tower. "Besides, I have the feeling that they'll reveal themselves, eventually." A silent glance at Richard said he agreed with her.

"So the hunter becomes the hunted." Camdor agreed, having seen the glance and the silent agreement between them. It was certainly a step up from their earlier rage.

Morwen glanced back at the group and saw some apprehensive expressions, Richard's and her earlier argument had allowed some doubts to surface whether this group could work together or not. She decided to end these doubts if she could. With a slight sigh she turned towards Dick and looked him in the eye. "I wanted to apologize for my earlier behaviour. I know that due to recent events I often toe the line between right and wrong when it comes to protecting those I consider my allies. I know that you don't agree with my methods, but at that time I truly felt that this was the best way to ensure the group's safety. If it is any consolation, then I can assure you that I would never have used such a tactic against an opponent who isn't darkspawn."

For a moment, Richard said nothing as he seemed to peer through her rather than at her, but eventually a flicker of a smirk tugged at his lips as he nodded his head in silent acceptance of her apology. It didn't mean he'd forget what had happened earlier, but he was willing to let it drop for the benefit of the group as a whole. Besides, he understood, better than she realized, where she was coming from, but he had yet to cross that line. He had come close though, in his own way, under different circumstances, so he couldn't so easily condemn her without sounding like a total hypocrite. "Just be careful you don't ever cross that line Morwen." He said at last, and held out his hand to the robed woman.

"I will do my best." She promised, and firmly grasped the offered hand.

"Now that that's over, can we please get this whole thing over with?" Daveth asked with a slight eye roll. "It's getting a little cold, and I'd rather have all my fingers by the time we get back."

"What's the matter Daveth, forgot to pack your gloves?" Richard teased, to which the thief merely smirked and shrugged back in response.

"Mayhaps I did, flirting with one of your friends earlier." He retorted without missing a beat. "Fiery little thing too. Thought she'd take my head off I did, and I wouldn't have minded so much either."

Richard chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm afraid you'll have to clarify, that sounds like all of them. Well, except maybe Dinah."

"Can we please get back to killing darkspawn? Please?" Alistair practically begged before the other two men could say something inappropriate. That and he couldn't help but blush, remembering the way their mage friend had flirted with him, and he had turned as red as a tomato. She had been….interesting, for lack of a better word. Apostate or not, and the fact he hadn't been able to stop himself from tripping over his own tongue, Zatanna had reminded him of himself, personality wise at least.

Thankfully his thoughts soon turned elsewhere before he could let them wander down where they'd never come back up the same way as they found themselves in the ruined Grey Warden outpost at last. There wasn't much left, the Wilds had reclaimed almost everything, bringing down the stone tower and the area around it. The swamp water had given rise to creeper vines and other plant life that had found weaknesses in the stone, which only grew thanks to time and the elements. Eventually, everything had come tumbling down, leaving a half circle of stone and fallen pillars as far as the eye could see. He was relieved to see the cache was still there though, but a quick glance told him that the chest had been smashed open, the magic protecting the contents all but gone. "This could be a problem." Alistair mused aloud and opened the chest, only to see nothing inside. "They're gone?" He asked dumbly.

"Looks like it." Nightwing muttered dryly, the whole way and it had been all for nothing. They had gotten the darkspawn blood after their first engagement with the creatures, but he had hoped that they'd get lucky and find the treaties as well.

Just when he started to turn back to the entrance of the tower, a flash of purple light caught his eye before the bushes parted, and out stepped a scantily clad woman, her raven black hair done up in a bun. He raised an eyebrow as both he and Morwen noticed she had bright, yellow eyes that seemed intently focused on himself and his companion before they swept over the rest. "And here's our watcher." Morwen whispered to Richard, who didn't visibly react at all.

"My, but the Wilds have been full of strangers lately." The woman began and sauntered out of the brush, a confident, perhaps overconfident, swagger in her step, and a staff just visible on her back. If the flash of light hadn't clued them in as to what she was, that did it for them. "I couldn't help but wonder why. Are you a scavenger, who would disturb the bones of a corpse long since picked clean? Or an intruder?"

"We are Grey Wardens." Morwen replied calmly though she was still ready to defend herself should it prove necessary.

"Invoke a name that means nothing here any longer, and you have yet to answer my question. If I were to guess then I would say that you sought something in that chest, something that is here no longer."

"Here no longer? You are some kind of sneaky… witch thief!" Alistair angrily exclaimed.

"She's a Witch of the Wilds, she is! Be careful, or she'll turn us into toads." Daveth said with a hint of fear in his voice.

Dick felt the sudden urge to close his eyes and count to ten. Alistair was a nice guy, but he certainly knew when to say the wrong thing to the wrong person. "Sorry, my friend is quick with his sword, not so much with his mouth." Alistair protested but Dick ignored him, laying on the charm as best he could. "But we are hoping to get our hands on those documents. If you're after our names though, my own is Richard."

"My, what manners. I like you." Morrigan replied, and smirked, her interest shooting up almost as high as her eyebrows at the unexpected kindness she had been given from one of the group.

"Careful, first it's 'I like you', then poof, frog time." Alistair stage whispered, to which Richard mentally slapped a hand over his face.

"I am Morwen, it is a pleasure to meet you." Morwen said and decided to emulate Richard's politeness. It seemed to get far better results than Alistair's insults. "If you'd be so kind, do you know where the documents are that were in that chest?"

"I do, and I am willing to take you where they are. My mother has them. Come, tis not a far walk." Richard shot Alistair a look before he could say a word, silencing the Grey Warden. Morwen nodded her thanks, both to the Witch of the Wilds as she had been named, and to her companion for silencing the ex-Templar before he could dig himself a bigger hole.

Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be so easy, they had walked perhaps for less than fifteen minutes before a sharp pain in Dick's chest sent him to his knees. A few moments later he started to cough violently. It seemed like that whatever magic Wynne had wrought, it now could no longer protect him from the taint.

"Richard!" Morwen exclaimed in surprise, and was at his side in an instant. "Damn, I had hoped that we had more time."

"He does not have much time. It would be best to put him out of his misery now." Morrigan mused aloud, and ignored the scathing blue glare that Morwen cast at her from underneath her hood. "After all, I figured that Grey Wardens would only recruit those they deem worthy and not simply out of pity."

It was no surprise that Morwen's blue eyes shone brightly with her rage at such a callous response for one of their own. "How about you get infected with the taint, and when you have lasted as long as he has, you may be fit to judge him. Until then, bring us to your mother and keep your opinions to yourself!"

"Easy ladies, let's not do anything we'll regret." Alistair tried to say, only to snap his mouth shut when Morwen looked up at him next, murder in her luminescent blue eyes which she quickly snapped back towards Morrigan's face.

"I will carry him to your mother if I must. Just make sure that we get there as soon as possible." Morwen growled out, making it clear she was not going to take no for an answer. "Camdor, are you still alright?"

"I feel as fine as I can, given the circumstances." The elf replied simply. He didn't feel the need to elaborate further. "Let us delay no longer, we still have to get back to Ostagar."

With renewed urgency they marched on, trying to ignore Daveth's fearful exclamations and Alistair's muttering. Something which Nightwing found rather easy, the pain in his whole body made sure that he could barely see straight, let alone care enough about their words to be annoyed by them.

After what felt like an eternity to Dick, they stopped in front of a small hut. An old woman stood in front of it and looked like she had been expecting them for quite sometime. "Ah Morrigan, I see you've brought our guests to me at last." The old woman said and chuckled low in her throat, as if she were privy to a joke only she knew. "And one of them seems rather out of place if my eyes don't deceive me." This she directed solely at Richard. "Take heart, bird of the night, you are stronger than you give yourself credit for. Your struggles are almost at an end."

"Okay…." Richard replied hesitantly, even through the pain he was puzzled by this old woman's cryptic words. Whatever she had meant, he got the impression she wasn't ready to drive a dagger through his chest as Morrigan had been earlier, even though that was starting to sound like a mercy at this point.

"I apologize for interrupting, but we must return. Otherwise he won't make it." Morwen said and indicated Richard with a nod of her head.

"There is no need to apologize, such loyalty! Was it your parents that taught you that?" Before Morwen could retort, the old woman waved her off. "Irrelevant in the larger scheme of things, worry not my dear. You will return in time to save your friend. And before you start barking, I have protected these." This she directed at Alistair when he started to open his mouth. "Take these back to your commander, and tell him that this threat is far greater than he realizes." The old woman said and pulled out a handful of rolled up parchments, bearing the Grey Warden seal. A griffon, if Richard were to offer a guess.

"You protected them?" Alistair asked in disbelief as he took the papers from the old woman with as much care as he could muster. They were far older than he was, and he wasn't about to damage them if he could help it.

"And why not? What else should I have done with them, hmm?" The old woman asked with the hint of a challenge.

"Thank you, we appreciate you looking after them." Morwen replied before Alistair could say something else that would offend these strange women.

"What manners, always in the last place you expect. Like stockings." The old woman said and laughed.

Ignoring the incredulous looks she got from the group as they were slowly lead back towards the camp by Morrigan. The moment they were within sight of the gates of the fortress, Morrigan transformed into a raven and flew off, leaving the group to enter Ostagar alone. Morwen watched her go before she and Jory continued to help Richard along, not about to delay more than they had to. Camdor was just starting to cough and look paler yet, a spiderweb of black lines appearing just underneath his skin, while Richard already had the markings of the taint etched into his flesh. To make matters worse, his blue eyes had started to turn black with gray around the edges of his iris. Before long, it would likely be too late to do anything for him, but Morwen fervently hoped they weren't.

"I see you have returned. Have you been successful?" Duncan greeted them solemnly and glanced at both Richard and Camdor in concern.

"We have." Morwen said shortly.

"Good. I've had the Circle mages preparing. We can begin the Joining immediately." Duncan said and beckoned them to the old temple, away from the rest of the army. That fact, even in his current state, wasn't lost on Richard.

"You made it." Morwen told him, and he was surprised to see a small smile underneath her hood.

"Can't...get rid of me...that easily." Richard wheezed out, a weak smile tugging at his lips as she helped him down against one of the stone walls of the small temple. "Never...been sick before...in my life. This...won't take me...without a fight."

"That's the spirit." She encouraged him and sent him another smile. "Though you really look like death warmed over."

"Well...at least if I die...it'll be in the arms of a beautiful...woman." Richard chuckled weakly while Alex and Morwen only smiled. It was reassuring to know his sense of humor was still very much intact.

"How can you be so strong? I have not seen such before, especially in one so young." Jory mused aloud, truly amazed by Dick's spirit even in the face of such odds.

"Long...story Jory. Put it simply….been doing this...since I was nine. Fear...doesn't factor into it anymore. Even threat of...death...doesn't slow me down for long."

"I knew I liked you for a reason." Daveth grinned, even though he was just as worried for the young man's health as anyone. "You certainly have bigger balls than some people I could name." This he shot at Jory, who only frowned and shook his head. "He's been blubbering about the Joining since we got back. Personally, I'd sacrifice a lot more if it would stop the Blight."

No sooner had the words left the thief's mouth did Duncan arrive, holding what looked like an inordinately large silver chalice. "At last we come to the Joining." Duncan said and walked past them. "The Grey Wardens were founded during the first Blight, when humanity stood on the verge of annihilation. So it was that the first Grey Wardens drank of darkspawn blood, and mastered their taint."

 _I had a feeling_. Morwen thought to herself, and wasn't at all surprised that Richard seemed just as unsurprised as she felt. Alexandria looked slightly paler at the revelation, but Camdor remained impassive as ever. At least they weren't stupid, that would make this easier for them.

"W-we're going to drink the blood of these creatures?" Ser Jory asked aghast, disgust and horror clearly visible on his face. Daveth only shrugged, his arms crossed and seemed willing to take the plunge if it meant he could stand against the darkspawn.

"I will not lie, we Grey Wardens pay a heavy price to become what we are. Fate may decree that you pay your price now rather than later."

 _Either we die now, or we are cursed to die at a later date because of the taint._ Morwen thought with a frown, and she knew that Richard had come to the same conclusion. _Still, I would gladly bear any curse to protect my people….if I have any left by the time I get back._ With that in mind, she looked up to Duncan and nodded her head, conveying her desire to see this through to the end. While Alex hesitated, she too conveyed the same intention. Camdor did nothing, but his gaze said the same thing.

"Not...like I have…much of a choice. If I did though...I'd still go through with this...some would say insanity. But I've been...faced with choices like this...more times than I'd like to admit." Admittedly, all of his past decisions hadn't been anything _quite_ like this, but Richard wasn't about to turn back now. Even if his current weakened state hadn't demanded he take the risk, he would have done it anyway. The darkspawn needed to be stopped at any cost, and it seemed rather appropriate that the Wardens had found a way to fight fire with fire. He had a funny feeling Batman would approve, although he wasn't sure if the thought reassured him or not.

Duncan nodded solemnly at him and soon held the chalice to his lips. Dick took a small sip, just because he was going through with it didn't mean that he was going to drink more of this stuff than necessary. Not that he was able to drink much before he started coughing again. It tasted foul, metallic, coppery, and smelled almost as bad. The feeling passed though and he was able to swallow the liquid with little difficulty. At first, he didn't feel any different, but it didn't last. When the pain started, every nerve ending in his body screamed in agony, and it threatened to overwhelm his very soul. He fought the sensation for a brief moment, before he decided to accept the darkness that was waiting on the edge of his vision. He didn't stay in the peaceful oblivion of unconsciousness for long though. His mind was assaulted with visions, of a winged beast that immediately made him think of the dragons he had read about as a child. Not the friendly kind either. This thing would have devoured them and spat out their bones.

Covered in sharp spines, this shadowy beast, dark purple and covered in scales as thick as one of Conner's arms, stood on a cliff, overlooking a vast horde of creatures he was beginning to recognize all too easily these days. The fact it terrified him to his core when it looked at him and roared, purple, life sapping flames spitting forth from its teeth lined maw, didn't help his opinion of the dark dragon in the slightest. The flames streamed towards him looking real enough to burn him to ashes at any moment, but before they found him, that was when he heard the screams of a dying man. Jerking upright, Richard's recently restored blue eyes snapped to Daveth as he fell to the stone floor of the temple, unbreathing. There were bloody claw marks on his throat, as if he had been trying to scratch open his own windpipe.

"What happened?" He groaned, still feeling weak and disoriented, but he felt better than he had before drinking from that chalice. Blood or not, it seemed to have worked, but that was a distant thought. Daveth's unmoving body and the sorrow filled look on Duncan's face told him all he needed to know. Daveth had drunk from the chalice, and died. To coin a phrase from Zatanna and her father, Fate had not been kind to the thief.

"Step forward, Jory." Duncan said and turned towards the knight.

"But I have a wife, a child! Had I known-" Jory began and drew his sword.

"There is no turning back." Duncan said sadly and drew his own dagger.

If the feeling had returned to his legs, Richard wasn't sure who he'd be siding with at that moment as Jory continued to back away from Duncan. "No! You ask too much. There is no glory in this!" Ser Jory said before he attacked Duncan with his sword.

Duncan swiftly deflected the blow and stepped inside Jory's guard before burying his dagger deep in his body, making sure to grant the man a swift death. "I am sorry." He said with deep regret. Pulling back, Duncan removed his dagger and looked down at Jory in sorrow before he turned to Morwen, Alex, and Camdor. "But the Joining is not yet complete. You are called upon to submit yourselves to the taint."

Camdor stepped forward without even a hint of hesitation. He too drank only a sip from the chalice before he convulsed. The elf fell to his knees, coughing heavily before collapsing completely and falling unconscious.

"Alexandria, step forward." Duncan said and looked at the young mage. In the moonlight she looked worryingly pale, like she was about to collapse any given moment.

"I...came this far. I can't turn back now." Before she took a sip from the chalice though, Alex looked up at Duncan, a question on her lips. "If...this doesn't work, is it possible to have my remains sent back to the Circle? I...would be buried there." As much as it had been a prison, it was also the only place she had ever known. It had been her home, and she would rather rest underneath the Tower's shadow than anywhere else.

"Of course child." Duncan replied softly, his gaze understanding and perhaps even fatherly. Alex took strength from that before tipping the chalice against her mouth. She was just able to hand it back before she too fell unconscious, alive and well.

Duncan lifted his gaze for a last time and looked at Morwen. Without any other words spoken, the woman stepped forward and gripped the chalice tightly and looked into its dark depths. _If this doesn't work, then I will be reunited with my family. But what becomes of my oath? Of my duty?_ She quietly thought to herself before she too drank the last of the blood. The agony that coursed through her body was different from anything she had ever experienced before. She could feel the darkness closing in. But one thought echoed clearly through the pain and darkness. _A Cousland always does her duty, you don't get to die just yet._

When she opened her eyes again, Morwen couldn't help but chuckle weakly when she saw Richard standing over her. "Been wanting to do that for a while." He mused aloud, a lopsided grin on his face before he held out a hand to her to help her to her feet.

"Don't get used to it." Morwen countered, and gladly accepted the hand he offered. A quick glance to the rest of the group said that other than Daveth and Jory, everyone else had made it as well. "Other than my head feels like it's pounding, I'm alright Richard."

"Yeah, same here." The hero replied before letting his blue eyes fall on Duncan. He knew he had acted in self defense, but that didn't change his opinion of the man striking down Jory without hesitation on his part.

"Maker, this is worse than the hangover I got from the self made alcohol we made under our mattresses in the tower." Alexandria moaned from her position on the ground.

"Uh...right." Camdor said, not about to touch that comment with a ten foot fishing pole. Despite his confusion, he held out his hand to the mage and pulled her up without a thought before turning to Duncan and Alistair before she could thank him.

"You have all awakened, good." Duncan stated with a nod to himself.

"Two more deaths." Alistair lamented. "In my Joining, only one of us died but… it was horrible."

"Speaking of deaths, was it necessary to kill Jory?" Richard asked, his arms crossed and a disapproving look in his blue eyes. "I understand he struck first and you simply defended yourself, but you could have just as easily knocked him out."

Duncan nodded, having expected the question. A quick glance towards Alex said she was just as surprised by what had happened, but she was more horrified than angry over it. "Jory was warned that there was no turning back as were you all. When he went for his blade however he left me no choice. It brought me no pleasure to end his life. The Blight demands sacrifices from us all, thankfully you stand here as proof they are not all made in vain."

Richard said nothing, but he let it go. He wouldn't forget this by any means, but there was no point in arguing about it now. It was done. Instead he asked. "So what do we do now?"

"There is one last part to your Joining." Alistair spoke up and revealed several pendants. "We take some of that blood and put it in a pendant, something to remind us of those who didn't make it this far."

"And just when I thought you guys couldn't get any creepier." Dick muttered sarcastically, but accepted the pendant Alistair gave him without complaint. No sooner had he put on the blood filled pendant did he sense rather than see M'gann and the rest of his companions run up towards the temple, cheers coming from most of them when they saw he was on his feet. He made it a point to get out of the temple before they saw Daveth and Jory. He wasn't in the best frame of mind to explain what had just happened to them. Conner gave him a funny look, no doubt smelling the blood in the air despite the distance between them and the temple, but a subtle, hard glance passed between them stopped the super clone from asking about it at that moment.

Though he had to remind himself that they were in a different world, within a different society that held different values. Compared to back home however, what had happened was needlessly brutal, but compared to some things from Earth's history, it was rather harmless. That didn't make it right though.

Right now he just wanted to spend some time with his friends, and if he heard correctly, then Morwen would be required to attend some strategy meeting as soon as she was able. If hers had felt anything like his own, then he could only pity her. However, he was certain that they wouldn't have to wait long for the coming battle. A look towards the valley, and Richard could just make out the beginnings of a dark cloud that was reminiscent of the same magical disturbance that had settled over the Asylum. The darkspawn were coming, preparing to sweep over Ostagar, and they were right in the eye of the storm.

 **Author Notes:** _ **Nomad-117:**_ _Well, seems like we managed to write about the Korcari Wilds and the Joining. Not bad, I think. I hope you can forgive us for the neglect of side quests? But it didn't seem realistic to include them all, and certainly not their full length when two members of their little group are basically dead men walking. Or at least they were. Now they're Grey Wardens, but even then it might not be enough._

 _**Vergil1989** _ _: I have to agree with my good friend here. We still took the box from our dead Chantry friend, and we plan to give it to its rightful owner eventually, but beyond that it was on the way, so that's about the only reason we did it at all given the situation. Even so, we hope you folks have enjoyed the story thus far and that you continue to read as the story unfolds. Adios for now and Maker willing, we'll see the end of this storm soon lol.  
_


	9. In Peace, Negligence

**Chapter 9; In Peace, Negligence**

**Ostagar**

Thea Queen had wandered away from Richard and his friends once she was sure he was alright. Besides Artemis, her niece, legally speaking at least, she was the odd woman out among the Young Justice and Justice League teams. As for Dinah, Thea and her were old friends perhaps, but there was some...history between them that she at least hadn't gotten over completely. Professionally speaking, she was able to work with Dinah, her big brother, and his allies without a problem, but Thea just didn't feel like she belonged with them beyond that. Too much had happened for her to ever feel comfortable around the heroes.

With no destination in mind, Thea found herself standing before a line of simple hay and wooden targets, each one bearing a crudely painted bullseye where at three other archers were taking last minute practice shots before the coming battle. Just as she started to pick up a shortbow that had been left by a quiver of matching arrows, Thea looked over her shoulder and saw Mirian Hawke standing against a nearby tent, her arms crossed and her blue eyes alight in sympathy. "I couldn't help but notice you seemed a bit out of place while we were still at my home. Not your scene I take it?"

"You could say that." Thea replied before bending down to pick up the bow and the first arrow in the pile. A snap shot later and the arrow she had fired found its mark in the center of the target. "They have their close knit group. They've always tried to make me a welcome part of it, but I just feel like I'm intruding."

"Maybe you just haven't found your group?" Hawke replied with a shrug before she pushed away from the wall and soon stood by Thea's side, her arms still crossed. She looked perfectly relaxed despite the fact the darkspawn was preparing to march on them in a couple of hours.

Thea took a moment to sweep her green eyes over the redhead before firing off a second arrow. Just like the first, it too found the center of the target, but she hardly noticed. Despite what they were about to go up against, the assassin trained archer couldn't help but get the impression Hawke wasn't bothered by much despite her inexperience. She had already proven to be shockingly observant and wise, far beyond her youthful appearance, yet she also had a humorous, fun loving nature that endeared her to almost everyone around her. Even Thea had started to warm up to the woman, and she had learned the hard way that few people were ever as they appeared. Even her own brother had lied to her for years about his nightly outings as the Starling City vigilante after his return from Lian Yu. To put it simply, Thea Queen trusted no one easily anymore, and was slow to give out what trust she had left.

Mirian remained silent as another arrow found the mark, and nodded her approval at the pinpoint precision Thea was displaying with surprising ease. She got the impression she wasn't even trying. "Where did you learn to shoot like that, or is that a too personal question?"

"My _father_." Thea spat out the word like a curse before her features softened somewhat. "My brother simply honed what I had already learned." She sighed and put the bow down after firing one last shot before turning to Mirian fully. "Let's just say I got tired of being defenseless, of being powerless, and I wanted to become stronger. I wanted to be able to protect myself so I could _never_ be hurt again."

"You took charge of your life after being the victim for so long." Hawke stated rather than asked, to which Thea simply nodded in reply. "That's truly admirable, and somewhat relatable." Mirian's pale blue eyes glazed over as memories of her late father flickered to the surface.

Thea recognized the look, and blurted out her next question before she could stop herself. "When did your….sorry-" Thea started to apologize, but Mirian shook her head before she could finish, silencing her on the spot.

"It's alright." Hawke said and smiled wistfully before letting her arms fall to her sides. "It was a little over three years ago now. He got sick and eventually passed away in his sleep. He was a good man, a kind man, born with powers he didn't wish, but he didn't fear them either. He's the reason why Bethany is a talented mage. He taught us not to fear magic, or people who hate those that do. This world might hate and fear mages, but I love my sister without hesitation or reservation, and that is why I'm here. And as much as my brother might moan about us having to move around all the time, hiding from Templars, he feels just as protective of Bethany."

"Wow, must be nice to have a family like yours." Thea muttered, louder than she had intended. The curious look on Hawke's face clued her into that fact, and she felt like banging her head against the nearest hard surface for her ill chosen words. "Ugh...forget I said that."

"Kinda hard to do, but alright. I won't pry." Hawke replied and let the matter drop, for now. There would be plenty of time to get to know her later, provided they survived the coming battle. Instead, she decided to pull Thea out of her darker thoughts by turning on her heel and throwing one of the daggers in her belt. Thea raised an eyebrow when the dagger split one of her arrows right down the shaft, dead center in the target. "You aren't the only one with finely honed skills."

"Huh, not bad, for a redhead." Thea quipped and smirked, honestly impressed by the woman's throw. Few people she knew could have done the same. Hawke only grinned in response as she walked the length of the range and collected her dagger.

"What does the color of my hair have to do with it?" Mirian asked but simply walked past her once she retrieved her dagger.

"If I have to explain a joke, it isn't _quite_ as funny." Thea commented dryly.

Understanding dawned and Hawke's grin returned. "Ah, you moonlight as a jester as well as an archer? Good to know I'm not the only one."

"Funny gal." Thea chuckled and shook her head a little, welcoming the distraction the other woman provided. All too soon a battle would rage here, and she wondered for a brief moment if Mirian knew what that entailed. Was she ready to plunge her daggers into someone's stomach and face what spilled out? Thea wasn't sure, but she was certain of one thing, if Hawke wasn't prepared, she'd have to get in that mindset real quick. She'd end up dead and buried otherwise, and speaking from experience, dying was...unpleasant. At the mere thought of that particular night, Thea subconsciously rubbed at the scar just shy of her heart and flinched when she caught herself. She really needed to stop doing that.

She was just glad that most of Ra's Al Ghul efforts seemed to concentrate on Batman, or as that madman called him "The detective", and not her brother. At least, not these days anyway. That had been different a few years back. Ra's had been fixated on Oliver, had been determined to make him his heir, the next 'Ra's' as it were, but they had found a way around it. But before they had won against him, he had taken steps to ensure Oliver's cooperation. No, she wouldn't think about _that_ , not here.

"Thea?" Flinching for the second time in as many minutes, she looked up and saw Hawke looking down at her, concern etched on her face. "You alright? You looked...lost for a moment."

"Bad memories. I'm sure you have a few of those." Thea replied and gave her a weak smile. It was a diversionary comment, and a lame one at that, but Hawke let the subject drop.

"Oh I can think of a few." What she didn't say was that she could have sworn she had seen something….unpleasant in Thea's green eyes. What exactly she couldn't say, only that it had sent warning bells off in her mind. She had seen that kind of look once before in her own eyes, when she caught her reflection while thinking that the Templars had found out about Bethany. It had turned out to be a false rumor, but she had been prepared to kill any that dared approach her sister.

An uncomfortable silence fell over them, which wasn't broken until Morwen's mabari walked over to the pair and looked up inquisitively at them. A worried whimper escaped Shadow's throat. Thea turned and sighed and rubbed the back of her neck before pulling her red hood up. "Yeah, we'll fine. And now _I'm_ talking to the dog….great. As if my life wasn't strange enough."

In response, Shadow barked once and waggled his tail, as if to say "Pet and feed me!". Thea looked at Mirian with a raised eyebrow. "Are all mabari like that?"

"From what I've heard, they are. My mother had a mabari pup, but she had to leave her behind in her home when she and father eloped. From what she told me of the dog though, she was just as intelligent as Shadow here." Hawke explained before crouching down to look the mabari in his small, brown eyes. Tired of being ignored, Shadow whined pitifully and looked at them with a heartbreaking expression, something that shouldn't have any place on a war hound, let alone look so convincing. "Oh alright, you giant flea bag." She teased before digging out a couple of dried jerky strips. "There, now go on before Morwen catches you." She said and left the trail rations on the ground.

Shadow happily barked before gobbling up the jerky strips and running off with all speed. Thea smiled and shook her head at the display. "I might have to get me one of those dogs sometime. Might come in handy if this insanity continues much longer."

"I might be inclined to agree with you." Hawke replied, stood to her feet, and dusted off her armored leather leggings. "At any rate, I better get back to my brother before he realizes I'm missing. Good luck to you Thea Queen."

"Thanks, you too Hawke."

"Glad to see she's making friends." Artemis said as she stood on the ledge of one of the stone walls that overlooked the valley below, having been watching Thea and Hawke from an elevated position. Camdor only smiled minutely, but remained silent. "You aren't exactly the chatty type are you Cammy?"

"Cammy?" The elf echoed incredulously and blinked slowly at the human woman. _Are all Shemlen this… insane?_ He wondered to himself, from the moment he had met her the one known as Artemis had displayed rather unusual behaviour, at least by Dalish standards. Perhaps it was merely part of her personality. She seemed to challenge everyone in some form or another, her friends especially, and always had a sarcastic comment on the tip of her tongue, ready to fire off at a moment's notice.

Artemis only shrugged her shoulders in response. "Camdor, Cammy, what's the big deal?"

"Well for one, Camdor is my name. And two, I find you the strangest of the _shemlens_ , humans, I've met thus far. Why do you challenge everyone?" He asked, genuinely curious about his fellow archer. She wasn't merely an archer, the sword on her back said that much, but he got the impression she favored the bow first and foremost.

"Where I come from, it's how you survive." Artemis replied simply.

"You come from a strange place then, an unneeded challenge only brings death to those who speak them, at least where I come from."

"The whole clan thing you had going for you?"

"The 'whole clan thing' was our way of life." Camdor retorted a bit harder than he had intended. Taking a breath, he forced himself to calm down and explain what his life had been like, before he and Tamlen had found that accursed mirror. "We looked out for each other, supported each other, but we didn't coddle each other. We made sure our hunters were able to support those who weren't able to wield a bow or a sword. Our craftsmen made our weapons and armor. Everyone has their place among the clans, a role they fill better than the rest. And we're expected to provide for the rest as best we can. It's a simple life but one I enjoyed greatly, despite the hardships that came with it, mainly you _shemlens_ making our lives difficult."

"Trust me, no one that's from my home is one of those _shemlen_." Artemis said with a snort. "Still, sorry to hear that there are so many racist pricks around here."

"I must apologize as well." Camdor replied and lowered his head a little, feeling the need to explain his disdain for humans after all but biting Artemis' head off. "Shemlen, translated to your tongue, means quick children...it isn't a curse so much as a term used by us Dalish to describe humans. Unfortunately, some of my clan, and I've made the same mistake myself, has used the term as a slur against your race." He rubbed at his chin and tried to find the words to explain. "You are quick lived, compared to us, or rather how we once were." Camdor sighed and looked to the side, more out of an effort to avoid his companion's suddenly sympathetic gaze than anything else. "We were once great, powerful, and lived very long lives. But centuries of enslavement, of having our ancient cities sacked and burned, has resulted in us becoming less. Our history, our culture, all of it was lost to time and the destruction of our ancient homes. Now we resort to oral histories, kept by our Keepers, passed down across the generations. It's...not as it should be." Merril would have been proud of him at that moment, if she had been present to hear his speech, brief as it was regarding the Dalish's plight.

"Sheesh." Artemis said, clearly surprised by the brief history lesson. "No surprise humans can be real dicks."

But Camdor wasn't finished. "Even now there are elves who live within the human cities. They are not even allowed to live among the humans, no, they are caged within Alienages and treated like dogs. Some try to flee and reach our clans, only a few make it." He failed to mention the fact that not all of the Dalish accepted those that _did_ escape their human masters. They were labeled as 'flat ears', and in most cases, it _was_ meant as a slight and not merely a term or classification. They often didn't survive the forest a second time, trying to find their way back to where they were at least accepted to a degree.

Artemis looked uncomfortable at that little revelation. Humans enslaving other humans was the oldest story in the book on Earth. It wasn't surprising that her species wasn't much better in this particular reality. "Shouldn't come as a surprise, the strong always subdue the weak." She knew that better than anyone. Her father had made sure she learned that lesson the hard way. She still had the scars from the 'training exercises' she and Jade had had to endure as children. He had given her one good thing out of those years though, besides the skills to defend herself. Lawrence Crock had made her more than capable to make sure no one ever had power over her.

"Indeed, that is one thing we can agree on." Camdor replied, noting the buried pain in Artemis's gray eyes when he dared meet her gaze again. She looked away this time before jumping down off the ledge and landing on the ground without breaking her stride. The Dalish elf only raised an eyebrow before he did his best to follow, although he took his time to climb down rather than jumping off the ledge. He had learned the hard way not to underestimate such a "small" drop, he once had jumped down from a branch and broke his leg. Were it not for Keeper Marethari's healing magic, he probably would have died. At the very least, he'd have had a bad limp for the rest of his life.

Wolf, the giant white beast, was sleeping a stone's throw away, his immense paws tucked under his head. As usual, he was acting the part of loyal companion and guardian to the two aliens. Elsewhere in the camp, Conner and M'gann were standing by the bonfire Duncan had started some time ago. Despite the martian's natural weakness to extreme heat, the warmth from the blaze was far more comforting than detrimental to her physiology. She hardly noticed though, too wrapped up in her concerns about the coming fight. _I have a terrible feeling this isn't going to end well Conner._ M'gann said, and let her reddish brown eyes sweep the extensive camp, spotting most of their friends. To say she was worried for them all would have been a massive understatement.

_We'll be alright._ Conner told her confidently. _The Light and the Reach couldn't beat us, what chance do these darkspawn have?_

_Yeah, you're right._ She replied, but couldn't help but think about how Wally died to stop the Reach's last ditch effort to erase all evidence of their meddling on her second home, Earth. At least, she considered the little blue planet a second home anyway, far more than Mars had ever been to her. They had beaten the Reach, shattered the Light, but the cost had been too high for her. And now these darkspawn were threatening their world and this one. That and she still had that….thing's presence in the back of her mind. She remembered the all consuming hatred, the rage, and twisted will that held the rest of the darkspawn together. Just thinking about it sent cold shivers down her spine, and she had seen a lot in her time with the team.

Her thoughts were interrupted though when Conner hugged her against his chest, his giant arms gentle and firm against her back. _We're going to be fine M'gann._ He promised, having no doubt picked up on her fears through the telepathic link. _Things might be different here, but we're still the best at what we do. Besides, we already beat these things a couple times since the Asylum. We_ _ **can**_ _win this._ M'gann was about to say something else, but her thoughts were silenced when Conner gently pushed her head up by her chin and kissed her, deeply.

She melted into his arms, and closed her brown eyes after a shocked little gasp escaped her at the kiss. She reluctantly pulled away when she needed to come up for air after what felt like a small, blissful eternity, and looked up into his crystal blue eyes. The way the firelight danced across his strong jaw and his short black hair did interesting things in the pit of her stomach. She was smiling softly and sighed, feeling rather foolish now over her earlier doubts. Putting a hand on Conner's cheek, she closed her brown eyes and leaned her head against his chest. _Thank you Conner. Maybe I am worried over nothing._

_No, not over nothing at least. I believe we can win, but I know it won't be easy._ Conner honestly replied and did his best to smile down at her. _But nothing worthwhile ever is._ He knew that better than most. Lex Luthor had taught him that the hard way, indirectly of course. Nothing the CEO of Lexcorp did was rarely ever direct and to the point, he always made it a point to have those he took a fancy in jump through hoops either literally or otherwise. He was good at manipulation, of getting others to do his dirty work, and Conner had almost become one of his puppets back in the day. It was about the only reason he wasn't already in a jail cell, or a pinewood box.

Duncan, Dinah, and Alistair meanwhile were gearing up. To say she had never worn armor before, light weight or otherwise, wouldn't have been a far stretch. "How you two can move so easily in that heavy gear is beyond me." Dinah chuckled and shortly winced when a piece of her recently purchased leather armored jacket pinched her side when Alistair attempted to get it to fit comfortably.

"If you'd stop squirming it wouldn't be so difficult you know." Alistair teased, and earned himself a playful grin from the team's psychologist and combat trainer. He immediately turned scarlet around his cheeks and hurriedly tried to look elsewhere.

"It takes some time getting used to it, but once you do, it will feel completely natural." Duncan said without looking up while fastening his own armor.

"I got that impression. I'm used to having freedom to my movements." Dinah explained and was happy when she finally got the damn chest piece to stay put, giving Alistair a chance to cinch it tight. She nodded her approval when she attempted to move as she normally did, and was relieved to note there was hardly any restriction.

"A rogue after my own heart." Duncan chuckled softly. "Though armor is always beneficial during a long term engagement."

"Especially against the darkspawn?" Dinah asked, to which both Alistair and Duncan nodded their heads gravely. She let that question hang in the air as Alistair walked away, most likely to check on the other recruits before she slowly turned her gaze on Duncan. What she had to ask probably wasn't the right time, but she needed to know. "You're not expecting to make it through this fight are you?"

Duncan's face remained impassive, but Dinah's finely honed senses told her he was hiding something. The just noticeable way his gaze softened and seemed to darken said as much. "I wouldn't say that, if all goes according to plan this will be a swift and decisive win. However… I have doubts that it is going to be that easy. Every fiber of my being tells me that this is a Blight, and those are never ended easily."

"Perhaps, but I can't help but notice you avoided my question Duncan. I know...it's not my place to ask, but I'm concerned about you." Dinah said and reached out, putting a comforting hand on the older man's shoulder. "We haven't known each other long, but I can see the bags under your eyes, the resignation in your posture. I can go on if you like."

"Very observant, but you don't have to go on. As I mentioned before, my time is coming to an end, and it is perhaps a little sooner than I had hoped. But the alternative...is not something I like to consider." Duncan sighed and looked up at the sky briefly before turning his gaze back towards Dinah. "If you make it and I don't….help Alistair as you are trying to help me. He is a good lad, but he holds me in higher esteem than I truly deserve."

"I will do my best." She promised, before her gaze hardened. "And what about you Duncan? Am I to simply let you die?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I won't die a needless death if that is what you are afraid of, but I will do my duty. Now go, look after your charges before the battle. You have enough on your mind without adding the troubles of an old fool." Duncan told her with a small smile.

Nodding silently, but reluctantly, Dinah walked away from the old Warden. In another life, another time, she might have called him a close friend, but as it was, she respected him a great deal already from the time they had traveled together. To see him so tired and ready to meet his end was...disheartening, to say the least. It was her natural desire to ease the burdens of her friends and allies, so it felt like she was failing in her duty as a psychologist in letting this go as she was as she went to find the team, but there was little choice at the moment. They had a fight to prepare for, and as strange as it felt to be wearing something more than her black top and blue jean jacket, she had to admit, it gave her a little comfort despite her own fear regarding the coming confrontation. She had handled herself well in Gotham, but she had been with long time friends and allies among the League. Here, she was surrounded by strangers, and she wasn't sure if she could trust any of them save for perhaps Duncan and Alistair.

Whatever the case, Dinah stopped when she saw Alex and Zatanna in the center of a small clearing, their eyes unfocused and their breathing almost in sync. She knew better than to disturb a practitioner while in a mystic trance. Instead she stood silent guard over the pair, just as a Templar in full armor dared approach them. "My lady. Do you require assistance with these mages?"

"No, and I wouldn't interfere with Grey Warden business. The King might not appreciate it." She was quick to say, using Cailan's fascination with the Wardens to protect Alexandria and Zatanna. Technically only one of them was a Grey Warden, but the Templar didn't need to know that.

"These are Grey Wardens? My apologies my lady, I was not aware." The Templar replied and bowed a little in her direction before turning around and walking back the same way he came from.

Dinah let loose a miniscule sigh of relief, they had enough problems already without the local church hunting them down. She had heard enough from Alex regarding her time in the Circle, albeit through Zatanna, who Alex seemed to have bonded with somewhat already, to have formed her own opinions about the Chantry and the Andrastian faith. It wasn't the religion itself that was the problem though, it was the people who practiced it, but the same could be said for any religions, regardless of their origins. People gave faith and their religion meaning, gave it power, and power, like anything really, could easily be corrupted by the people that claimed to serve their chosen religion.

_Just like back home._ She thought bitterly. _Some people will always use any means necessary to increase their own power._ She had seen a couple cases of that as a District Attorney for Starling City, before she had chosen to change professions and earned a couple degrees in psychology. The fact she was a vigilante on the side had made a strange kind of sense with her normal, civilian career change, that and she hadn't felt like a hypocrite, taking the law into her own hands anytime she put on her Black Canary outfit alongside Oliver Queen, or as she knew him in the League, the Green Arrow. In the end, she had donned the mask of the Black Canary because she could no longer sit idly by while her city became more and more corrupted. It hadn't helped her sister, Sara, had died, and she had almost lost Oliver to the League of Shadows. That and more had made it that much easier to leave her old life behind.

Whatever her thoughts on the matter, she looked up when she heard the two mages stir from their trance, Zatanna's blue eyes returning to normal from their earlier glowing state. Alex simply blinked a few times, shook her head, and put a hand to her forehead, as if shaking off a wave of dizziness. "Ugh, I don't think I'll ever get used to going from the Fade and back, on purpose. Dreaming about it is one thing, but going into it to gather strength? That's something else."

"I don't know, it didn't seem so bad to me." Zatanna mused, a cheerful grin pulling at her full lips, much to Dinah's amusement as the pair noticed her standing close at hand. "Hey there BC."

"Zat. Have a nice trip?" Dinah asked and crossed her arms over the leather jacket, one blonde eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Sure, you should try it sometime. The demon infested landscape is really something else." Zatanna snarked back sarcastically. Though she had been lucky enough to once again avoid any harmful entities within the Fade. She had a funny feeling her luck was running out though.

"You are one strange mage." Alex mused, but she couldn't help but smile at the raven haired beauty next to her. "I always get nervous anytime I visit the place."

"I can see why you would, but I'm used to the strange and unusual." Zatanna shrugged, while inwardly her mind wandered to her confrontations with rogue sorcerers and a Lord of Chaos back in her home dimension. The Fade had its dangers, there was no denying that, but she had dealt with worse things than demons out to possess her if given half a chance. The problem was simple, when comparing herself and Alexandria Amell. Zatanna had several years of combat experience under her belt, she had gained the confidence she needed to see herself through her trials at a young age.

Alex hadn't been given anything but doubt and fear in her own abilities, while she had been blessed with a father that had taught her to embrace what she was while practicing caution when necessity demanded it. She hadn't been held back, while Alex had been taught, at least from what Zatanna had gathered from her few tales of the Circle, her magic was a curse. And here she was, about to put herself in danger against an enemy unlike any Zatanna had faced before until recently. It was… admirable. Foolish perhaps, given her inexperience and fear of her own power which had been ingrained in her at a very young age, but admirable.

A quick look at Dinah said she was thinking along the same lines, and subtly nodded her head when she saw Zatanna's unspoken question in her blue eyes. As admirable as it might be, Alex needed her at her side. Zatanna had the experience and the skill under pressure she lacked. Alex had the power and the knowledge of this realm. It was a logical conclusion then, at least in Zatanna's mind, that they needed to stay together. _Unless the guys calling the shots are idiots, they'll use the mages as ranged support._ Zatanna thought grimly to herself. A mage in the front lines wouldn't do much good. Another glance at Dinah though had the senior sorceress wondering if anyone of intelligence was planning the battle strategy, or if Cailan was as idiotic as they had seen for themselves upon arrival. She really hoped it was the former and not the latter.

Morwen and Richard meanwhile, along with Shadow, had been invited to the last strategy meeting of the night before the fight began. Richard had been at first surprised by the news, but then he remembered Cailan's fascination with the Wardens, and immediately put two and two together. With the whirlwind of events that had seen him in this mess in the first place, he had been a bit preoccupied. Now his mind was clearer, he felt like his old self, and he was able to focus on his surroundings with his usual clarity.

A fact that brought him more than just a little comfort. Though he still had his suspicions regarding the invention. At first it had only been extended to Morwen, but once the courier came to tell them that the meeting was about to begin, he had been informed that he was to attend too. He wondered if Duncan or Morwen somehow managed to arrange that, both of them knew that he was from out of town so to speak, so perhaps they thought he would prefer it to be kept in the loop. They wouldn't have been wrong either. He was his team, his friends', leader, he needed to know what the game plan was so he could put them in the best positions he could. Despite what many people believed, a single person could make all the difference if they were in the right place, at the right time. Bruce had taught him that long ago.

Coming up to the King's grand tent, Dick's eyes narrowed somewhat when he saw the fabled Hero of Riverdane, Teyrn Mac Tyr Loghain, the military brains behind the king's crown from what he'd heard on the way up the muddy, boot stomped hill. He, King Cailan, Duncan, Morwen, an older woman dressed in Chantry robes he didn't recognize, and several officers were situated around a map of Ostagar and the surrounding area. The valley on the map, he noted with a glance, was where the bulk of their forces, represented by a number of carved wooden figures, were to assemble and face the horde apparently. A simple but effective maneuver, especially if the reinforcements overlooking the valley were what he thought they were. There was probably a signal they'd receive, before the rest of the army moved down to destroy the darkspawn.

Having registered all that in a matter of seconds, Richard let his gaze drift to the people around him. It seemed like they had arrived at a bad time since Loghain and Cailan were busy arguing with each other. "Loghain, my decision is final. I will stand by the Grey Wardens in this assault."

_Aren't the Grey Wardens in the frontlines?_ Dick wondered to himself vaguely recalling Duncan saying something like that. _If that's the case, then his decision would be… unwise to put it mildly. Besides, if he's busy playing hero in the front lines then who will coordinate the army? Perhaps Loghain?_

"You risk too much, Cailan! The darkspawn horde is too dangerous for you to be playing hero on the front lines." Loghain argued back reasonably. Whatever his opinion of the man, Richard had to agree with the Tyern since he was right.

"If that's the case, perhaps we should wait for the Orlesian forces to join us, after all." Cailan replied with a small smile on his face. Apparently this was an old argument, but a revealing one for himself and Morwen.

Loghain's reaction was all too easy to note when his face hardened and he spat out the name Orlesians like it was a vile curse. "I must repeat my protest to your fool notion that we need the Orlesians to defend ourselves!"

Now it was Cailan's face that hardened as he glared back at the black haired Teryn. "Then our current forces will have to suffice won't they? Duncan are your men ready for battle?" It was then Cailan turned and saw Richard and Morwen standing just to his left.

"They are your Majesty." Duncan replied and nodded to the pair for emphasis.

"This is our fight as much as yours." Richard stated adamantly when he saw Loghain start to open his mouth, no doubt to shoot down Cailan's fascination with the Wardens. That too had caught his ear, long before they had entered the tent. "Warden or not, I get the feeling the darkspawn won't care."

"Hmm...you at least are more sensible than my nephew." Loghain said, a thoughtful frown pulling at his hard, stone like face.

"Loghain, speak your strategy if you must! But you would do well to remember who is king." Cailan shot at his 'uncle' with some heat, before he continued. "The Grey Wardens and I draw the darkspawn into charging our lines and then?"

"You will alert the tower to light the beacon, signaling my men to charge from cover." Loghain said in a tone that made it clear that it was hardly the first time he had explained such to Cailan. It confirmed what Richard had deduced from looking at the map himself though. It was a sound strategy, in theory, but theory rarely lived up in the face of reality.

"To flank the darkspawn, I remember. This is the tower of Ishal in the ruins,yes? Who shall light this beacon?" Caillan questioned softly and rubbed his chin.

"I have men already stationed in the tower. It's not a dangerous task, but it is vital." Loghain replied and looked at each person in the room to get the point across. He let his gaze linger on Duncan, Morwen, and finally settled on Richard's blue eyes. He matched the man's stare with one of his own, neither willing to back down in their silent measure of the other.

"Then we should send out best. Send Alistair and those two to make sure it is done." Caillan commanded with a nod to himself, breaking the staring contest without realizing it.

"We will do our best, your Majesty." Morwen replied and inclined her head in his direction. He didn't like it, but he nodded his head in agreement. There was little point in upsetting the delicate situation more than necessary anyway.

"You rely on these Grey Wardens too much, is that truly wise?" Loghain questioned Caillan with a slight scowl on his face.

"Enough of your conspiracy theories Loghain. Grey Wardens battle the Blight no matter where they are from." Richard's face remained impassive by some small effort of will on his part, but inwardly he shivered since the King had unwittingly summed up his situation in that single sentence.

"Your Majesty, you should consider the possibility of the Archdemon appearing." Duncan interjected before another argument could begin.

"There have been no sign of any dragons in the wilds." Loghain said and turned to Caillan to hear his opinion on this.

"Isn't that what your men are here for Duncan?" Caillan asked the Warden with an raised eyebrow.

"I… yes your Majesty."

"Just because it hasn't been seen doesn't mean it's not out there. If it's as smart as the darkspawn it commands, then it's reasonable to assume it won't appear unless it has to." All eyes turned on Morwen, who had remained mostly silent up until that moment. "First rule of combat, don't underestimate your opponent. I learned that a long time ago."

"You too huh?" Dick asked and shot his fellow Warden a subtle grin before his expression shifted into a thoughtful frown. "I have to agree with Morwen though. Unseen doesn't mean not there. Some of the most dangerous enemies are those that don't make their presence known until the right opportunity." He was speaking from experience, both as the ambusher and the one falling into the same trap. He knew better than most how effective a precise strike could be when given the right circumstances.

"Your Majesty, If I might interject." A mage, who Morwen recognized as the one who had bothered Zatanna earlier, began. "The tower and its beacon are unnecessary. The Circle of Magi-"

"We will not trust any lives to your spells, mage! Save them for the darkspawn." The old woman, the priestess of the Chantry she and Richard had spotted upon entering the tent, hissed hatefully.

"Why are you here?" Morwen questioned the older woman bluntly.

"I-what?" The Revered Mother, the rogue recognized now, given her ornate dress and the necklace around her neck, symbolizing her rank and office, stammered out, surprised by Morwen's question.

"You know nothing of war nor can you block a mage's abilities like a Templar could. As far as this meeting is concerned, you are useless, so I will ask you one more time. Why are you here?" The hooded woman said and narrowed her eyes at the priestess. "We already entrust them with the lives of our men, and if they have the ability to save more of them, then why shouldn't we let them?" The mage who had spoken up was surprised, to say the least, and could only open and close his mouth in response.

"How dare you?!" The Revered Mother shouted and turned towards the other occupants of the tent. "Are you going to let this stand?"

"I suggest we remove her so that those who actually know something about the art of war can discuss our strategies." Morwen said calmly, completely ignoring the older woman's outburst. A quick glance at Richard, and the rogue was happy to see the briefest flicker of a smile appear on his face, suggesting he both agreed and approved of her calling out the old woman. Duncan remained quiet, but she saw a resigned, silent sigh escape him. Loghain raised an eyebrow but nodded just as Cailan stroked his chin in thought, torn between keeping the peace between the Chantry and the crown and agreeing with Morwen's apt observation.

Just when the Revered Mother started to shout something else, Loghain slammed a mailed fist into the table, silencing them all. "Enough! This plan will suffice! The Grey Wardens will light the beacon. And you," Loghain rounded on the old woman. "I do not deny the Maker has power and that the Chantry and the Templars are needed here, as are the mages, but I have to agree. You have no place here Revered Mother. Please leave, or I will have to have you escorted out."

The Revered Mother's face hardened at that and she glared at both Loghain and the king. "Very well, but the Chantry won't forget this!" With these last words she turned around and marched out of the tent.

"Thank you, Loghain. I cannot wait for that glorious moment! The Grey Wardens battle beside the king of Ferelden to stem the tide of evil!" Caillan exclaimed confidently. Missing the concerned look the three Wardens shared, he didn't seem to take this threat seriously enough.

"Yes, Caillan. A glorious moment for us all." Loghain said lowly, and turned back to the map. "A glorious moment indeed." Just as the general started to turn away from the map, he caught Richard's scrutinizing glance. For a brief moment, a fraction of a second, a dark, primal part of his mind panicked, wondering if this stranger had heard something in his voice to give him a reason to suspect his coming treachery, but he pushed that doubt to the side just as quickly. He made it a point to look into this young man's past, starting with the strange heraldry on his chest. The blue, strangely shaped bird or bat would hopefully reveal where he came from, and who his family was. From there he could find out more if all went well, and put plans in place to stop him if he somehow survived this night. Then there were the rest of the strangers he had noticed among the men. The fact they had remained by and large with Duncan and his new Warden recruits made them enemies of his. They would have to be dealt with as well.

The other Warden recruits were far less of a mystery to him. The Circle mage was incredibly easy to get information on, and while he didn't have any personal information on the Dalish elf he still knew what to expect since this wasn't the first time that he dealt with one of the Dalish. Still, no one had been so easy to recognize as the woman who stood at the same table as him. Morwen Cousland, of course he knew her, they had met before, though she had been much younger during those times. He'd have to talk to Rendon Howe about his little tale of killing _all_ of the Couslands when he had taken the castle of Highever, but that was for later. For now, he had a battle to… orchestrate.

Once the meeting had dispersed, Richard and Morwen left side by side and found their respective allies waiting for them by the bonfire. "What's the plan then Boy Wonder?" Artemis was the first to ask as she pulled her Tigress mask from her belt and clamped it down over her face, completing the image of her new hero persona.

"It's simple but if pulled off, should provide us a victory." Richard stated.

"That is if the fool King doesn't get himself killed between now and when we light the signal fire." Morwen muttered darkly.

"Does anyone feel like elaborating?" Dinah asked.

"King Cailan insists on fighting on the frontlines." Duncan explained, albeit briefly.

"Is he stupid?" Artemis immediately asked and looked around. "I mean that's like taking your king in chess and making a suicide charge with it."

"An apt analogy Artemis, but unfortunately I cannot persuade his Majesty to change his mind. Not even his uncle, Teyrn Loghain, can do so." Duncan replied sadly before rubbing the back of his neck. "All we can do is end this Blight as quickly as possible now, for all of our sakes."

"Alright, lay it out for us then." Zatanna replied, making it clear she was willing to do her part. A hesitant but determined nod from her fellow mage said the same.

"Richard, Morwen and Alistair are to light the beacon in the tower of Ishal. The rest of you will be distributed among the army, so that you can use your specialities to full effect. I'll let Richard and Dinah decide that part."

No sooner had the words left his mouth did Duncan and the rest see Alistair's shocked expression. "What? I won't be in the battle?"

"There will be other battles Alistair." Duncan reassured the young man.

"Anyone, who truly wants to go to war, has never truly been there before." Richard quoted softly. "You shouldn't be so eager to enter a battle Alistair. Believe me, it may cause more damage than you think."

Alistair seemed to digest Richard's words for a moment before nodding reluctantly. "Alright, but if the King asks me to put on a dress and dance the Remigold in front of the horde, I'm drawing a line."

"I don't know, it might be funny to see the darkspawn die of laughter." Zatanna quipped, earning her the first grin from the ex-Templar that didn't include embarrassed blushing.

"That would be a sight to see wouldn't it?" Alistair chuckled.

Duncan shared a glance with Dinah as if to say. _See what we have to deal with?_ Both adults rolled their eyes a little at their behaviour.

Once Duncan had left, Richard took a few minutes to lay out a rudimentary plan for the rest of the team. Camdor and Artemis were paired off and asked to take up a post on the bridge, picking off any targets of opportunities such as mages, Emissaries, or anything that resembled a leader in the horde. Considering Conner's immense strength and resilience, he was their undisputed ogre smasher. Zatanna and Alexandra would aid the other mages in long distance bombardment. M'gann, with her telepathic might, could coordinate their efforts, picking off targets as she could and perhaps ease the suffering of the wounded by suppressing their pain, rendering them unconscious if necessary.

"Stay safe out there guys, and don't take any unnecessary risks." Richard said, and earned a collection of somber nods from the group before he looked towards Dinah. "Uh...I didn't forget about you, but I wasn't sure-"

Dinah only chuckled and patted him on the shoulder in reassurance. "Don't worry Richard. I'll find my place well enough. M'gann?" The martian nodded just as her eyes started to glow green for a brief moment. The familiar presence of her telepathic touch as she established the link between them brought some measure of comfort in its own way. _You, Morwen, and Alistair need to get going. I'll be fine._ She reassured them all.

_Alright, let's get this fight over with._ Conner said and slammed his fist into his open hand. Wolf stood to his immense height and howled, filling the night air with

Before they marched off, Alistair turned towards Duncan one more time. "Duncan… May the Maker watch over you."

"May he watch over us all." Duncan said back and nodded back at Alistair. The elder Warden knew that he most likely wouldn't survive this Blight, but even so, he was proud of Alistair. The young man had learned a lot since he had taken him in, and if he admitted it to himself, he had come to care for the younger man like a wayward son.

He put his hand on the Alistair's shoulder and graced him with a rare smile, he hoped that that was enough to show Alistair that he cared about him. Then he turned around and marched off, towards war. When he saw Dinah at his side, Duncan said nothing, but his lips pulled up into a brief smile all the same. Even if he went to his death this night, he took strength in the fact he had someone looking after him.

_**End Notes; Vergil1989:** _ _Well, this is it ladies and gentlemen. Ostagar, the battle at least, is next chapter. And yes, we purposely altered the Grey Warden's oath, corrupting it as surely as the darkspawn corrupt everything around them. It basically reflects what we plan to do here, in our unique fashion. The battle will change, trust me, but the outcome will remain generally the same. Or will it? You'll just have to wait and see. Hehe._

_**Nomad-117:**_ _Indeed, the events at Ostagar will change but not even the Team can prevent a slaughter of such a scale… or can they? Whatever the case, we hope you continue to enjoy this tale and the events we plan to include along the way._


	10. In War, Defeat

**In War, Defeat**

**Ostagar Valley**

Just like the Asylum, the skies above the valley had turned pitch black and roiled with thunder and lightning. No one was looking at the sky though, every pair of eyes was focused on the forest that hid the horde of darkspawn from their view. Countless points of light made it pretty clear where they were though. The roars and growls from the creatures before them were hard to miss, even with the sound of thunder above almost drowning them out completely. Conner was the unfortunate one that could see more than the rest of the men around him put together. His blue eyes narrowed when his gaze settled on one darkspawn, just as the genlock slit a soldier's throat on their side of the valley, blood spraying the ground before him before the genlock pushed the man down at his feet. Conner clenched his hands into bloodless fists, his revulsion and building rage felt through the telepathic link.

Some soldiers began to shuffle nervously at the sounds that were carried to them. Even now, at the eve of battle, Chantry priests and priestesses walked through the lines of soldiers. Dinah noticed and wondered why, but she didn't ask her question aloud. Perhaps it was some sort of sermon, or it was merely to boost their morale. It seemed to work for some as they calmed down a little at the sight of the priests. At a glance though, it was still clear that many of the men and women present were afraid of the creatures they were about to face, and rightly so. Dinah had seen enough of the darkspawn on Earth to understand all too clearly what they were in for. "Stand firm, fear will defeat you well before they do. Push past it, and focus on what you're fighting for." She called out to those around her. Duncan nodded his approval as more than a few of the soldiers heard the woman's comment and seemed to take strength from her steely determination.

M'gann remained invisible, having flown into the forest on the edge of the valley. She had a pretty good view of both armies from her hiding place, and had already picked out several targets. _When the fighting starts, I'll do what I can to disrupt them from here._ She sent to her allies as her red brown eyes honed in on the closest of the Emissaries she could spot from her vantage point. As much as the thought disgusted her, she knew she couldn't hold back. Using her full telekinetic ability would be the only way against these things. She wasn't foolish enough to try to stop them with her telepathy, the _thing_ in command of the horde would immediately notice her and if Zatanna were to be believed, she would be destroyed before she got a chance to fight back. Besides, her own confrontation with the Archdemon through her last attempt to learn more about the darkspawn had ended badly, and she was in no hurry to sense the dragon a second time, to feel that all consuming rage and twisted will in her mind. No, she'd have to mentally shred any monster between herself and her targets. M'gann shivered at the thought, already dreading what she was going to end up doing before the night was over.

 _Easy M'gann._ Conner said to her calmly. _Don't drive yourself crazy. Just do what you have to to survive._

Megan nodded to herself, she had forgotten that they all would be forced to do things they would regret before the night was over. If she needed any evidence of that, all she had to do was look towards the bridge that spanned the valley floor, where Artemis was doing her best to disguise her true feelings regarding the whole situation. Out of all of them, she had fought most of her life to be something more than her father and sister had wanted her to be. He had wanted another Crock family criminal, she had made it a point to disappoint him time and again. That didn't make this any easier, even if their opponents tonight were bestial monsters intent on only death and destruction. Killing was killing in her mind, regardless of the enemy before her.

As if picking up on the team's concern for her, Artemis mentally scoffed. _What?!_ She hissed, earning her a curious look from Camdor at her side.

Nightwing was clearly disturbed by the thought of having to kill. Despite his numerous years fighting crime, he had prevented himself from becoming so jaded that he could justify, what was in his mind, murder. Forgetting the fact Bruce would have been disappointed in him, Richard would have been infuriated at himself if he ever did become such a person. Though M'gann still could feel the resignation echo within his mind, because he knew that it was necessary. He didn't like it, but he understood it.

Despite his apparent calm, M'gann could feel Conner's fear. Not of the darkspawn, he was afraid that once he started killing, he would become the very weapon Lex Luthor had always intended him to be, that the Light had created him to be. While he had had five years to get past the worst of that fear, it was still in the back of his mind, and it was more pronounced than ever. _You will never be like that man._ She sent him, her mental voice full of warmth and trust in him.

 _Thanks._ He sent back and she could all but feel his smile. With that taken care of, she turned her sights on Dinah. The woman had the same concerns as Nightwing, but with her it was intermixed with worry for each and every one of them. Not only if they would survive, but also how they would deal with the blood on their hands after it was over.

Zatanna at least seemed relatively calm and collected over what they were about to engage in. Although, being a sorcerer of her caliber didn't come easily. _I might not like this anymore than you do guys, but I understand what we're up against._ Her ironclad determination and drive to see the darkspawn fall was a relief and comfort in its own right, but something, at least in M'gann's opinion, didn't feel….right to her given their long standing friendship. Whatever she had seen while in her astral projection, it had made Zatanna hardened against these monsters. To the point that she wasn't sure if she'd show any mercy whatsoever, even if one of them decided to try and make peace with the magician.

Thea's mind was far calmer than those of her teammates. Perhaps it were the effects of the Lazarus Pit, or something else altogether, but the thought of killing darkspawn didn't seem to bother her nearly as much as it did the rest of the team. M'gann wasn't sure if she found that worrying or reassuring, and decided on a mixture of both. Given her...complicated history though, the red clad archer probably would have just shrugged off whatever probings M'gann might have sent her way.

She was shaken out of her musings when she spotted movement at the verge of the forest. It didn't take long for the first darkspawn to step through the line of trees. More and more of the hideous creatures appeared from the forest. There were darkspawn of all kinds, hurlocks, genlocks, emissaries, a few shrieks if she recalled their names correctly and even some ogres. Besides a few, bigger, stronger variants, most of the darkspawn seemed to be of the same size as their kin, making it painfully obvious there was some form of basic hierarchy even among the different races of 'spawn. That would make her job more difficult, spotting targets of opportunity if she couldn't get to them herself, but she was determined to see them defeated one way or the other.

Despite this new problem, it didn't take her long to identify her first target of opportunity. It was a hurlock who stood more than a head taller than the rest of its kin, its armor more ornate as it seemed to glint menacingly in the light of the nearby torches. Others made way for the taller darkspawn as it stood upon a rock and glared at the defenders with unbridled hatred. As if spurred on by some unseen signal, the darkspawn began to growl and scream at the mostly human army before them. Pounding their shields and armored chests with armored fists, the beasts' roars and shrill cries rent the night air. They were trying to intimidate the Fereldens, and judging from what she saw, it seemed to work, at least to a certain degree. Multiple soldiers took a few steps back, or looked around for signs of panic in their brothers in arms.

M'gann had to reevaluate her opinion of these creatures, they were smarter than she had first given them credit for. _Or perhaps it's the creature that commands them to act this way._ She thought to herself. _From my brief encounter, it's becoming clear that it's far more intelligent than the creatures it commands._ That thought was somehow more terrifying than the dragon itself. If that was the case, then it was little wonder it hadn't shown itself on the field. Confirming its own presence at the head of this horde would likely unite the country against it if half of what she had learned about the darkspawn since this mess began was to be believed. As it stood now, without seeing the Archdemon, everyone believed this was just an unusually large raiding party, and were treating it as such. The only way she could see the Archdemon appearing now, is if they did enough damage to its army, but given the size and scale of its forces, she didn't think they'd be able to accomplish that, even with Loghain and the rest of the reinforcements, who were waiting for the signal to charge. There was little point worrying about it now though, and M'gann forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand. They either won here or they didn't.

King Cailan, predictably, was smiling grimly, sword held aloft at his side. "Hounds!" He called out, making himself heard over the growls and barks of the warhounds he had brought along for this occasion. Dozens of mabari were let loose on the darkspawn army just as they started to charge forward. They were the first casualties as their unearthly opponents cut down the dogs where they could, while the mabari ripped apart any darkspawn that were too slow on the uptake to defend themselves. Wolf remained at Conner's side, although the great white beast growled menacingly low in his throat, eager to join in with his fellows no doubt. Cailan smirked briefly at the sight before giving the second order. "Archers!"

"We're up Cammy." Artemis said and nudged the Dalish man in the side just as the sky filled with flaming bolts and arrows from the army. More than three hundred yards away from the front, few people could pick off enemies at such a distance, but few people had been so extensively trained in the art of the bow as she had. Having forgone her small hand crossbow for this, at least for the moment, Artemis made a mental note to thank Morwen for the longbow she had gotten back in Lothering as she knocked her first arrow alongside Camdor. As one, they fired, and watched their arrows fly up and over the army and into the front lines of the horde where they detonated, showering a dozen of the beasts in flaming embers and oil. Pandemonium soon ensued, but it didn't last long. Artemis watched the growing conflagration, the flames' light dancing across her bronze tiger mask. She hated what she had just wrought among the darkspawn, but she knew there was little choice but to utterly destroy the enemy in front of her.

The horde still charged forward, its guttural cries never stopping, not even when more and more darkspawn fell to the flaming arrows that fell upon them from the night sky or the pitiless jaws of the mabari hounds. But the darkspawn kept coming, charging right over their dead or dying without remorse or hesitation. Seeing little choice, Cailan held his sword aloft and gave the order to charge. "For Ferelden!"

"For Ferelden!" The army echoed and charged forward to meet the darkspawn head on. Their fear forgotten, at least for the moment as they ran towards the monsters that would destroy them all if given the chance. However, the darkspawn numbers couldn't come to full effect on this battlefield. The narrow valley made sure that only so many darkspawn could face them at once. Without the reinforcements though, the royal army would stand no chance, but at least it evened the playing field a little.

Their chances improved though when the ground inexplicably cracked open farther back in the darkspawn lines, swallowing up a great number of the beasts. Just as quickly, the rock and soil closed on them like the jaws of a giant trap. Only one person the team knew could pull off such a magical feat, and still have juice for a lot more of her hat tricks. As if to prove that point, a wall of fire twenty feet high suddenly sprung up, deep in enemy territory. Zatanna was in rare form tonight, although the fact she and Alex were currently flying through the right side of the forest on a magically created platform, it made sense they had gotten so far so easily into their ranks. While unable to perform on such a grand scale, Alex held her own as she froze or lit up more than her share of the darkspawn as Zatanna continued to fly just out of reach of the enemy's spells and arrows, causing chaos and disorder among their ranks.

"That's our cue." Richard said as he and Morwen, on the far side of the bridge, watched the army charge into the darkspawn lines before they stood to their feet and started for the Tower of Ishal with Alistair two steps behind them. The firewall spell had been their agreed upon signal, telling himself and Morwen to run for the Tower with all speed.

By now the darkspawn had begun to fire their siege machines at the ancient fortress. A lot of their shots went wide, though a few of them hit, but thankfully they were only unoccupied buildings. The defenders wouldn't simply let such an attack stand unpunished. At some unseen signal their own ballistas opened fire and rained death upon the enemy siege weapons, they were soon joined by mages who did their best to send their spells far enough to hit their targets. Even those that didn't managed to hit their intended target managed to impact the horde and simply killed other darkspawn. Then there were Conner and Wolf.

While not quite as strong or mobile as the super clone, Wolf was and had always been a wild animal at heart. Even before he had been experimented on by the aptly named Brain, injected with a variant of Kobra-Venom to enhance his muscle mass to unnatural levels, Wolf had been a pack leader, an alpha, and he hadn't gotten there on brute strength alone. He displayed that intelligence as he engaged one of the enemy mages, goading it to throw a spell at the ballista behind him before nimbly jumping over the fireball and ripping the mage's throat out on his way by. Both mage and siege engine were decimated in similar fashion, but Wolf had long since moved on, teeth and claws eager for more.

Conner engaged the darkspawn in a similar fashion, clad in the heavy armor Morwen had picked out for him. He shrugged of most off their attacks and retaliated with overwhelming force. A shield bash sent a hurlock flying for several dozen meters, his right hand swung a great sword that should have been impossible to lift with just one hand, but words like "should" and "impossible" were meant for people far weaker than Conner. "You want to see how a real monster fights?! Let's go!" He roared, before lashing out with his right foot, kicking an Alpha genlock with enough force that its chest caved in long before it was sent flying into its brethren, but he hardly paid it a second glance as he elbow checked a Hurlock. It was clotheslined, and fell to the ground in an undignified heap before Conner stomped on its head.

Though for all his heroism, he was hardly alone. On both sides were the men and women of the king's army. Spurred on by his actions, they fought with greater vigor and strength. It might not have been enough to win the day, but at that moment, they didn't care. They were inspired to keep up with the impossibly strong man among them, and Conner was hardly the only one. Dinah was also present, using her natural grace and combat experience to grand effect. She nimbly dodged sword blows, causing the darkspawn to wound and kill their own long before they had a chance against her. She was hardly idle however as she lashed out with a pair of daggers, turning blows aside before returning the favor. While they weren't her first weapon, Dinah proved more than proficient with the blades as she continued to dance and weave among the darkspawn.

Though the heroes were hardly the only inspiration on the battlefield. The Grey Wardens fought with a ferocity that surprised even Conner. Every single one of them dealt horrendous losses to the darkspawn, but it was Duncan that truly dominated the field. Where the old Warden went, death was sure to follow. Any creatures that were foolish enough to go near him were dispatched with staggering lethality.

Dinah could hardly believe her eyes when Duncan jumped at an Ogre and used his daggers to climb up the creature's chest before stabbing his sword through its throat. The moment the large creature fell down, he was once again in the midst of battle, side by side with the king. Even over the din of battle however, Duncan heard Dinah's call of alarm and rolled to the side, just as an axe wielding Hurlock almost took his head from his shoulders.

Before he could retaliate, something unexpected happen. Dinah opened her mouth, threw her arms out behind her, and _screamed_. Everything in front of her shuddered and cracked as wave after wave of sound escaped her, and the darkspawn that had almost killed him fell, clutching at its ears as blood poured out of its mouth, eyes, nose, and ears before it and dozens behind it fell dead. "By the Maker. You are truly full of surprises Lady Lance." Duncan said, astounded by what he had just witnessed.

"I could say the same about you." Dinah said, breathing heavily after using her Canary Cry. She could do it again in a few minutes, but it always took a lot out of her lungs, and made her throat a little sore, to do it too often too fast. The reprieve she had bought herself, Duncan, and the King was brief as more darkspawn swarmed them, but it had been enough to get her breath back at least as she charged alongside the Grey Warden Commander.

Amidst the chaos, no one noticed what M'gann was doing, which was kind of the point. She circled above the armies, and searched for a target that demanded her attention. As soon as she spotted one, she swooped down like a bird of prey, and dealt with it. The first she simply crushed inside its armor, another time she lifted her target high up into the air before letting it fall down again. Regardless of how she did it, each target she selected died one way or another. The ones she couldn't get herself, she sent a mental image of the darkspawn in question to whoever was closest, and let them handle the enemy when they could. Needless to say, she was quite busy. And despite the chaos and disorder she caused to their rudimentary chain of command, the darkspawn didn't back down, they simply gave way to their bestial natures instead of attacking in organized groups.

Artemis and Camdor had problems. Their first few shots had been decimating, but the darkspawn were clever, and had popped out of the ground on either side of the bridge before swarming them from both ends. That was the darkspawn's mistake. While Camdor was a long range expert, Artemis more than made up the difference as they danced around each other, slaying darkspawn with every shot or sword stroke. Though of course it couldn't be that easy for Artemis. The enemies mages and remaining siege weapons had apparently decided that the bridge was a tempting target and unleashed barrage after barrage on it.

"And I thought tonight was going to be boring!" Artemis grunted as she cut down a barrage of arrows with her katana before they could find their mark. Blocking arrows with nothing but her sword was an old habit for her. As much fun as it might have been to impress her elven partner by actually _catching_ a couple, showing off at this point in time would only get her killed.

"Wish for the Dread Wolf, and he'll appear!" Camdor shouted back as he fired over her shoulder just as she ducked, rolled forward, and lunged with her blade all in one motion. The Dalish followed up with another arrow that pierced the first darkspawn on Artemis's blade and hit a second immediately behind it, stopping it dead in its tracks.

"Funny, we have a similar saying!" Artemis replied and ducked as a fireball impacted the bridge near their position. The hungry flames consumed both soldiers and darkspawn alike. Artemis grimaced at the sight, it was not a death she would wish on anyone. Not even her own father, as much as she might have wanted him dead on more than one occasion.

Camdor used the little breathing room the explosion had provided to once again shift his aim at the darkspawn in the valley beneath them. He sent one arrow after another into the darkness beneath them while Artemis made sure that no darkspawn got near him. Pulling her hand crossbow, she twirled her katana in one hand and leveled her secondary weapon before her and nodded towards Camdor. The elf returned the gesture, making it clear he wasn't going anywhere without her. The Tigress and the Hunter were not going to go down quietly.

Thea Queen had somehow found herself fighting alongside Mirian Hawke and her brother, Carver. Her opinion of the redhead's fighting ability had shot up in the first few minutes of engaging the enemy forces. Her brother was no slouch either, but she, like Richard and Morwen, still considered the giant sword he carried rather….brutish. That was a distant thought though as she kept pace with the rogue, her curved sword flashing before her as one darkspawn after another fell to her graceful spins and counter strikes. As much as she hated Malcolm Merlyn for what he'd put her through, she had to thank him for giving her the skills to defend herself. "And I thought that sword was just for show!" Hawke called out, a grim, cheerful smirk on her face as she and Thea fought back to back.

"You'd be surprised Hawke!" Thea called back and spun, her foot lashing out like a whip, cracking the genlock in front of her across the face before she finished her spin and brought her sword down on its back. She deflected another blow when she heard the unmistakable noise of an arrow fly by her ear before hitting a hurlock that had tried to sneak up on her in the throat. Convinced that it was Artemis, she turned around to look for a split second and was surprised that it had been Camdor who had taken that shot. Even from the bridge, the Dalish elf was just visible amongst the rest of the soldiers milling about far above them. "Thanks Legolas!" While she didn't see it, having long since turned to another enemy, Camdor's ears twitched and a frown pulled at his lips.

"Do I dare ask?" Hawke chuckled as she ducked, and seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke before reappearing behind another Hurlock. The top of his head disappeared just as blood ran down the front of his armored chest, his throat having been slit about the same time the top of his head had been severed. Just as she started to turn to engage a second, Thea was in front of her, sword flashing in front of her as she blocked three arrows with her blade. Hawke took only a split second to marvel at the woman's timely arrival, along with her saving her life, probably not for the last time that night, before they ran forward together into the midst of the horde.

Sometimes they would see a sign of their friends. Like darkspawn suddenly thrown to the ground by supersonic screams, or killed by arrows that were shot with an accuracy that many would deem impossible. While more were inexplicably frozen, set aflame, or buried alive. They even ran into Conner, he had teamed up with a mountain of a man that was clad in heavy armor and batted the darkspawn to the side with his mace as if they were merely flies to him.

That was how they met. The mysterious stranger in the armor had smashed an emissary to bits when it tried to attack Conner from behind. The two behemoths had since then decided that it was more fun to smash the darkspawn together. Wolf was never far behind, tearing into darkspawn with almost equal glee beside his long time friend and companion.

But no matter how many darkspawn fell, there always seemed to be more to replace their fallen brethren. For every monster destroyed, ten more were ready to charge into the fray in a seemingly endless stream of dark, corrupted flesh. The defenders were slowly but surely being pushed back, and if that wasn't bad enough, they were all beginning to feel the effects of fatigue.

"When is this damn beacon supposed to be lit?!" Conner cried, frustrated as he carved another group of genlocks apart with his sword. Receiving a telepathic message from M'gann, Conner charged deeper into the horde and spotted his latest target, an ogre, bigger than the rest he'd seen so far. "He's mine." His companion only nodded, having found his own enemy by that point anyway.

Together they charged forward, Wolf by their side and teared through any enemy unfortunate enough to stand between them and their chosen targets. Conner was dimly aware that some soldiers followed their charge, thus causing further chaos within the darkspawn ranks. Any such thoughts left his head as he jumped the last five meters towards the ogre and impacted into the creature's chest with the force of a large boulder. The creature came crashing down, but was still alive, barely. Conner rectified that with a swing of his sword.

"Look out!" The voice of his armored companion shouted. Conner turned his head in time to see an emissary shoot a stream of fire at him from his hands. Before he could even think of reacting, a shadow fell over him as the form of his companion stepped between him and the flames. His armor was tough, and had easily deflected the blows the darkspawn had dealt against it. However, magic was an entirely different matter.

The agonized screams of the man were clearly audible even through the sounds of battle all around them. The man inside was literally roasted alive. After what seemed like an eternity, the fire stopped, and the man who had shielded him fell on his back, utterly silent.

Conner glanced down at the burned armor in shame. The blackened helmet hiding the man's features, even in death. They had fought together, the man had given his life for him, and he didn't even know his name. Conner didn't know anything about him, and that filled him with disgust at himself. Though his disgust soon gave way to anger, and he channeled it all towards the creature who caused it. The emissary hit a tree with enough force to break every single bone in its body. A quick look at the armored behemoth who had given his life for him told him there was nothing he could do for him, so Conner moved on, his grip on the hilt of his greatsword tight enough to leave finger sized dents in its metal handle.

He could see that he was not the only one driven into a frenzy over the behemoth's death. The soldiers who had accompanied them fought with greater ferocity than ever before, determined to make sure that their comrade hadn't died in vain. Conner could understand that, vengeance could be an excellent motivator.

 _Nightwing? Where the hell are you?_ He growled over the mindlink. _We are taking heavy casualties down here!_

 _Sorry, we got a bit held up!_ Nightwing shouted back, and gave the super clone an image of himself, Alistair, Morwen, and Shadow fighting darkspawn in the Tower of Ishal. _We're nearly to the top! Two minutes!_

 _We don't_ _ **have**_ _two minutes!_ Conner growled back as he shield charged another group of darkspawn just as another flame wall erupted several feet in front of him. Not long after Zatanna's spell went off, spikes of ice appeared, impaling more darkspawn and impeding others from charging him and the men down right before he spotted the magical duo's summoned platform fly overhead. No sooner had the two mages flew past did several more creatures decided the ground wasn't to their liking and were lifted off it before they were dropped down a lot harder than they took off. Very little was left after M'gann telekinetically slammed them down.

Elsewhere, Hawke had a problem of her own, and it wasn't darkspawn related. At some point, Thea had disappeared on her. Despite their brief time together, Hawke had grown rather fond of the lithe, slender and rather short archer, and worried the darkspawn had either taken her down or had dragged her underground to do Maker knew what. What she found when she saw close to two dozen darkspawn, dead, was somehow more frightening. She had seen the murderous gleam in Thea's eyes once already, but it had disappeared before and hadn't gone beyond her green orbs. Now however was a different story as she viciously struck at anyone that dared to approach her, her face contorted into a bestial snarl that would have been right at home among the darkspawn at her feet.

Covered in dark blood from the slain around her, Hawke briefly wondered if Thea had been possessed by a rage demon, and had forgotten to tell her. Even so, she doubted it, and not for the obvious reason that she was no mage. Whatever the case, Hawke fought her way to the enraged Thea Queen, more to protect her from herself at this point. That was a mistake because as soon as Hawke got close, Thea spun on her next, sword raised to strike her down. She reacted first and disappeared in a puff of smoke before appearing behind her, her arm wrapped tightly around the woman's throat. "Thea! Snap out of it, and help us survive this night!"

Thea at first struggled against her hold before she slumped in Hawke's arms. Shaking her head and putting a dark gloved hand against her forehead, she groaned and almost collapsed to her knees at Hawke's feet. When she recovered, it was just in time as a Hurlock closed in, flaming sword held above its head. She struck first when she pulled one of Hawke's daggers from her belt and threw it underhand at the monster, the throwing knife finding its mark in the creature's neck. Looking up at Hawke, Thea's green eyes held a silent thanks which Hawke returned with a nod of her head. It would have to be enough for now.

"I hope we get those reinforcements soon or we're done for." Thea grunted and stood up and nodded at Hawke in thanks once more.

"If not, at least we gave the rest of the country a chance." Hawke said as she put her back against Thea's, the pair determined to die among a pile of their enemies if this was their time.

**The Tower of Ishal**

**Ten minutes earlier…**

"Would you stop complaining already?!" Morwen grumbled towards Alistair as she dispatched a darkspawn who had been stupid enough to come near her as they charged the Tower of ishal after being informed it had been attacked. "First you complain because you don't get to fight, now you complain because you _have_ to fight! Just make up you mind already!"

"Hey! I'm only complaining because they weren't supposed to be here in the Tower!" Alistair shot back as he shield bashed a genlock before driving his sword into its chest.

"Maybe we can tell them that they're in the wrong place? Think they'll go for it?" Richard asked as he backflipped and threw one of the dozens of batarangs from his personalized holster. The device unfolded mid flight, and found its mark in the lead monster's chest before exploding, destroying the target and seriously injuring its fellows in the process about the same time he landed on his feet.

"Right, we can laugh about it later!" Alistair replied, just as Shadow ran ahead and ripped off one of the wounded monster's arms on his way by. " _That_ was seriously disgusting." His complaint went unheard by his companions though as he moved in to finish off the rest of the creatures before him.

"Good boy!" Morwen cooed at the mabari. In response, the war hound barked once before returning to the skirmish. She had to agree with Alistair however, the darkspawn weren't supposed to be this far into the fortress. Still, there was no point in complaining about it as she and Richard led the charge with Alistair doing his best to keep up with the speedy rogues. Nodding to the stairs and the locked door between them and the second floor, Nightwing beat her to the punch as he threw another batarang ahead of them, blasting the passageway open. Time was not on their side, so stealth went out the window.

"Wanna bet how many darkspawn are in the next room, just waiting to kill us?" Morwen asked Richard dryly. "If our current luck holds, probably around thirty, at least."

"Nah, we'll go into the next room and we'll find it completely deserted. The only thing left by the darkspawn will be an apology note that says how terribly sorry they are for ruining our night." Dick replied with a small smile. He knew that that wouldn't be the case, but humor had always been his way of coping with things.

"I wish." Alistair chuckled dryly, and wasn't disappointed when he felt that all too familiar itch in the back of his mind grow noticeably more pronounced when they came upon yet more darkspawn. "Well, no note." He mused aloud as he and the rest of his companions prepared to charge the enemies in front of them. He was held back though by Richard with a hand on his chest. When Nightwing pointed at the tripwire in front of them before gesturing towards the barrels scattered about the central room, understanding dawned in his eyes. "Ah, right, of course there'd be traps. Why wouldn't they make it easy on us?"

"Who exactly claimed that darkspawn are little more than animals?" Morwen asked rhetorically. "Because last I checked, animals didn't build traps."

"Yeah, that's actually a good question." Dick admitted, if he ever found that person he would probably punch them in the face. Such claims caused soldiers to underestimate the darkspawn, and underestimating an enemy never ended well. Wasting no time, Morwen disarmed the trap, but Dick had since jumped over the tripwire and led the charge, daggers in hand. As much as he hated the things, he had yet to pull his escrima sticks since they had gotten to Thedas. He had to reluctantly admit they were far more effective against these creatures, and proved it yet again as he dodged around the first attack while attacking in the same moment. One dagger slipped into the first darkspawn's back while the second found an opening between another's chest plate, finding a vital organ. A third fell just as quickly as he jumped back, threw his right hand dagger, and the blade found a new home in the monster's left eye. The monster had only just started to fall back before he ripped it free on his way by, a geyser of blood following in his wake.

Morwen was just as ruthlessly efficient. Each stroke of her sword and dagger hit a vital area. The way she moved reminded Richard more of a dance of death than something that could be considered a traditional fight. Something which he greatly approved of since she never remained in one place long enough to be surrounded or make herself a target. She kept her opponents off balance in a way he was eerily familiar with.

Alistair fought a lot more grounded than either Morwen or himself. And his heavy armor also meant that he could take a lot more punishment than they could. He fought less gracefully, but was still not to be underestimated. He used both shield and sword with no small amount of skill, and while he had a lot to learn yet, Alistair was just able to keep up with his two companions.

Nightwing was just dispatching another darkspawn when he was suddenly contacted by Conner. _Nightwing? Where the hell are you? We are taking heavy casualties down here!_

Richard winced at the news, though it couldn't be changed. If the tower had been clear as they had been led to believe, they would have already lit the beacon, as it was however he could do nothing else but answer his teammate truthfully. _Sorry, we got a bit held up!_ He sent to Conner and emphasized that point by sending various pictures of them fighting the darkspawn inside the tower. _We're nearly to the top! Two minutes!_

 _We don't_ _ **have**_ _two minutes!_ Came the angry retort, though thankfully his teammates didn't say anything else. Right now, Richard couldn't allow himself to be distracted by anything. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind did he, Morwen, Shadow, and Alistair climb the last flight of stairs only to stop dead in their tracks. "And now we know why the beacon was never lit." Nightwing deadpanned and sighed as the giant ogre started to stand to its impressive height.

Blood dripped from its jaws, having been feasting on one of the guards that lay scattered and broken around the top floor of the tower. When it saw them, the ogre roared and threw the dead body at the Wardens. Nightwing dodged to the right while Morwen broke left. Alistair raised his shield and did his best to bat aside the corpse. It was enough of a distraction to allow the ogre to start a blind charge right to the junior Warden, but that was a bad idea on the darkspawn's part as Nightwing threw a bola batarang at its tree trunk sized legs. The ogre was tripped up, entangled by the carbon steel wire, and slid to a stop just short of Alistar's blade. "Well, you wanted easy." Nightwing said with a shrug.

"I did say that didn't I?" Alistair said with a shrug before stabbing the ogre in the eye. He drove the blade into skull until the huge monstrosity fell silent. "Why can't it always be like that?"

Morwen had meanwhile run to one of the nearby torches and used it to light the beacon. The bright light felt liberating after all the obstacles they had to overcome before reaching it. "We did it." She said, relief palpable in her voice. No sooner had they lit the beacon however, did Morwen sense a fresh wave of darkspawn rush up the stairs.

"We're not out of this yet!" Richard shouted as he activated the curved spikes on his gauntlets, having decided he had had enough playing with the kids' gloves, as it were. The first darkspawn to engage him up close got its sword stuck between the spikes on his right gauntlet before he turned the blade aside, slamming his forehead into the monster's face before backflip kicking off of its chest. While it staggered back, Nightwing used his backward momentum to throw several batarangs into the fresh wave before he landed in a crouch between Alistair and Morwen. Several explosions later had cleared most of the room, but it was too little too late as he turned and saw the arrows sticking out of Morwen's chest.

The woman looked down at her chest in surprise as if she couldn't believe that she had been hit. For what seemed like an eternity she remained upright, but Nightwing knew that it had only been a few seconds at best, before she fell down. Her whole body unmoving save for worryingly shallow breathing, her luminescent blue eyes slowly glazing over as unconsciousness claimed her. He didn't get to worry about it for long as he soon joined her, a lightning blast hitting him square in the chest. The only thing that saved him from being killed was his Wayne tech armor, insulated against most forms of energy based projectiles to some extent. It was just enough to save his life, but not to keep him in the fight.

Now that he lay on the cold floor, close to unconsciousness, he saw the archers that had hit Morwen. The way they stood… she had put herself between them and him and had shielded him without his knowing. In his mind, he scolded himself for being so sloppy, though the mental voice sounded suspiciously like Bruce. Before his vision went dark, he saw Alistair charge forward, a rage filled scream on his lips as he did his best to stem the tide on his own. It wouldn't be enough, but Richard was beyond caring at that point in time. His head rolled to the other side as his vision grew dark and he saw the burning beacon, despite his probable death he smiled. They had succeeded in their mission. His friends would survive.

M'gann was the first to notice Richard's absence in the telepathic link and immediately jerked her gaze towards the beacon. While the sight of the fire burning in the night told her they'd made it, the fact she couldn't feel his presence just in the back of her mind took whatever joy she had felt right out of her metaphorical sails. _Something's wrong, I think Richard's down!_

 _M'gann watch out!_ Time slowed down to a crawl as the martian turned towards Conner, only to stop and look down at her right shoulder. She never saw where the dagger had come from, only that her active camouflage failed as pain started to radiate through her body, disrupting her mental control on her powers. Falling from the sky, she became visible to everyone around her, but she didn't notice. Though she certainly noticed when her body hit the ground. Pain exploded all over her back, and all she could do was to bite back her screams. In front of her prone form stood a genlock in ornate armor, in one hand it still held a dagger that looked suspiciously like the one in her shoulder. Though what worried her were his eyes, she could practically feel the hateful entity looking at her through them. "You die now outsider." It growled, and stalked forward, dagger poised to slice into her neck.

It didn't get the chance before an enraged Conner picked up the genlock and promptly smashed its head between his hands, his greatsword and shield forgotten on the ground at his side. Blood and gore showered the ground and the heavily armored kryptonian clone, but he hardly noticed as he spun on his heel and gingerly picked M'gann up in his arms. "Hey, stay with me M'gann. You're gonna be fine."

"Conner…" She whimpered weakly, and grimaced as the blade in her shoulder shifted, scraping against bone. "I...don't think I can remove it myself. I can't phase shift it out either….too much pain."

As she spoke, she was dimly aware of Wolf, who ripped any darkspawn that dared to approach them to shreds. Despite the pain however, something else penetrated her thoughts. "Where are our reinforcements? They should be here by now." She managed to get out through gritted teeth, though her vision darkened at the edges while she spoke.

"They're not coming…" Conner whispered, just as curious as she was when he looked towards the hill where Loghain and the rest of the army had been waiting. "They're leaving!" He shouted, shocked as he realized what was going on. The army had turned on their heel and started away.

"What?! Urgh...why?!" M'gann cried out, just as alarmed by the news, adrenaline or at least the martian equivalent flooded her system and kept her awake despite the pain. "We have to...get them to run."

The way she said it clued the clone into what she had in mind, and given the situation at hand, he wasn't about to argue the point. "Do it." Conner said, and braced himself for the mental equivalent of a Canary Cry. This was going to hurt.

She took a deep breath and prepared herself for what she was about to do before she let loose with all her mental might. _Retreat!_ The telepathic shout was so powerful that it sent Conner to his knees, even the darkspawn seemed to pause for a moment. She hadn't given it any particular direction, so they had heard it as well, as did their master. But the soldiers that were left heeded her call to run, and did their best to form an organized retreat despite their dire situation. It hadn't taken them long to see the battle was lost when no help came, but having a direction to go, that helped give them a reason to fight for their lives as they ran. They didn't care where the call came from, only that someone seemed to still be looking out for them.

By then, Zatanna and Alex had settled on the bridge just as Artemis and Camdor ran out of arrows and crossbow bolts. "Need a lift?" The sorceress asked, and didn't wait for a response as she and Alex helped the two archers on her platform. "We need to find Richard and the others."

"Then what are you waiting for?! You heard M'gann! They're in trouble down there!" Artemis shouted and pointed to the valley floor below.

As if to emphasize her point, the darkspawn ran forward with renewed vigor. The filthy gleam of their armors ever present in the valley below, it was far harder to spot something that wasn't a darkspawn. Thankfully, Wolf's white fur stood out like a beacon of its own as Zatanna directed her platform towards the beast and his companions. Fire and lightning rained down around the martian and kryptonian clone, giving them some much needed breathing room.

"Get her out of here! Go!" Conner yelled the moment Zatanna set down and passed the unconscious martian over. Before she could protest, the super clone bent his legs and launched himself away from the group. "I'm gonna bring the whole damn fortress down in this valley if I have to!" Wolf took off after his master, not about to leave Conner behind if he could help it. The darkspawn however had no intentions of simply letting Conner go. They charged at him the moment he landed, futile as it was as he batted them aside on his way to the bridge. Once the survivors had retreated, he would bring the whole thing down to give them more time to escape.

As he looked over his shoulder he saw Zatanna maneuver her magic disc out of the valles and away from the darkspawn horde. _Conner, Zatanna will take us into the wilds where we will wait for you. Find us, soon._ M`gann told him via the mindlink before he could literally feel her drift into unconsciousness.

It was time to speed things up, he decided. Conner bent his legs and jumped up again, determined not to let any darkspawn get in his way. Though it was not to be, the moment he had reached the apex of his flight he was hit by a fireball. It wasn't enough to stop him, but it slowed his improvised flight, made him miss his landing. And when he did land, he fell flat on his face with a groan, leaving a large impact crater in his wake. "Who threw that?" He growled, and jerked his head over his shoulder, his vision zeroing in on the offending mage as he started to gather power for another spell. "Found you."

He dashed at the emissary with blinding speed, but just before he reached his intended target, he was blasted to the side by a wave of cold. It slowed him down, long enough for the first emissary to get his spell off. A glyph appeared at his feet, and a rectangular prism appeared around Conner, rooting him to the spot. He roared and tried to shake off the magically induced paralysis, but it was too late as close to a dozen darkspawn swarmed him, blades poised to cut into him.

He scowled at them, the moment he got free of this spell he would kill them all, and this time no mage would stop him. Even when the first rust covered blade came down, shattering against his thick skin despite finding a weak point between his armor, Conner continued to struggle with all of his might. It wasn't until an enchanted blade spitting bolts of lightning hit him did Conner scream in agony, more from the electricity surging through him than the sword itself that had pierced his body.

The blade was twisted inside his body and another scream forced itself past his lips. The darkspawn laughed and yanked his sword free from Conner's stomach just as the paralysis spell wore off on its own. "Outsider….you die here." It growled, a malicious smile on its face.

"Not….yet!" Conner growled back and grabbed the hurlock's sword arm before slamming his knee into the creature's chest. The armored, humanoid brute felt more than the air in his lungs blast out of his body as most of his ribs gave way, but Conner was far from done as he threw the hurlock with everything he had into the bridge's supports. His improvised missile finished the job the bombardment from the darkspawn's siege weapons had started, sundering the right side of the support structure beneath the bridge. The rest was simple physics and gravity taking up the slack as the immense structure crumbled and fell apart, filling the valley with debris and broken bodies, ensuring that nothing could pass that way for a long time. He only had a few seconds to enjoy his success before a flaming dagger buried itself in his back.

Conner was confused, he knew from experience that such a wound should hurt more. He looked down and saw the tip of the dagger exiting his chest roughly at the same position where his heart was. The super clone felt his strength leave him, and he fell to his knees. A moment later, he slumped forward, and stopped moving altogether. Underneath his armor, his black shirt, bearing the red S shield of his alien father's House emblem, turned red from his blood. The embodiment of Hope had finally been brought down.

Though he wouldn't be the last casualty of that night. Near the collapsed bridge were Dinah, Duncan and King Cailan. They had tried to retreat in an orderly fashion with as many soldiers as they could gather, but a sudden impact at the bridge had prevented that from happening. "No…" Cailan cried out softly, whatever hope he had left crumbling as surely as the bridge.

"We aren't dead yet your Majesty!" Dinah called out as she charged ahead, determined to climb over the rubble if she had to. No sooner had she started to do just that, did Wolf rush up to her side and pushed his head under her butt, forcing her onto his back. "Good boy." She said, and patted the great wolf's back as he nimbly clambered over the remains of the bridge, bearing her to the other side. The moment she hopped down, Wolf jumped over the debris, leaving Dinah to stand alone, already in the process of preparing one last Canary Cry to cover their retreat. Before long, more darkspawn heard her scream, and knew no more shortly afterwards.

Wolf came back carrying the two wounded men over his back. While she helped him, she could hear the sounds of fighting coming from the other side. She hoped that they get as many of these soldiers out of here as possible when she heard the angry cry of an Ogre. A moment later it was followed by the sound of metal impacting stone and she could see a golden glove sticking over the rubble that had once been the bridge.

"Cailan." She whispered sadly, knowing that the king had just been their latest casualty of the night.

The sounds of fighting intensified before they receded for the moment. For a few heartbeats, there was nothing but silence on the other side, and both she and Wolf wondered if all the others had perished in their absence.

Both recoiled when suddenly, a strong voice rang out from the other side clearly audible throughout the valley. "To me soldiers of Ferelden! To me!" Duncan's said, with the voice of a man who was used to commanding men in battle. Thus it was not surprising to hear the shuffling of armored boots on the ground a moment later.

"We will hold this line for as long as possible and get as many of you as possible out of here. Those that stay with me know what that means." He said grimly, his gaze lingered at the bodies of his fallen brothers and sisters. He was the last of the Wardens here, and he knew that his wounds were too serious to make it out of here alive, but he would be dammed if he would die in vain.

"Dinah? Are you still there?" He asked over the rumble.

"I am." Dinah called from the bridge. She didn't bother to try and convince him to change his mind. She had been around men like Duncan most of her life. When the chips were down, they all did the same thing. They sacrificed themselves so the rest could live.

"Good, send Wolf here. We will hold the line as long as we can." He told her before sighing tiredly. "I will tell you when you have to go. When that time comes, don't hesitate."

"As you wish." She said softly, knowing better than to deny his request. For the next few minutes Wolf ran over the destroyed bridge and brought as many men with him as he could. The sound of fighting first grew louder and noticeably closer, before it slowly receded. Dinah knew what that meant, there were fewer men holding the line now than before. Just as she was about to send Wolf one more time Duncan's voice rang out.

"Dinah go! We won't hold out much longer! Remember, your charges need you. Your fate is not to die on this corpse strewn field. Remember your promise!" Duncan shouted, his voice growing heavy. "And I have one more thing to ask of you. Make sure that we did not die in vain. Make sure that this Blight is stopped."

Dinah said nothing, and instead chose to walk away with Wolf at her side. Nothing else needed to be said. Her departing steps were accompanied by the dying screams of the men on the other side. As she fled as fast as her legs could carry her, a single tear made its way down her cheek. Their deaths would not go forgotten. She'd make sure they hadn't died for nothing. She looked towards the sky, towards the Tower of Ishal, and thought she saw something large fly away from the tower. But when she blinked, it was gone. She pushed it to the back of her mind, her heart heavy and her body exhausted from the fight. If the rest of the team was alive, they'd rendezvous in Lothering as planned. She didn't want to consider the alternative.

For the first time since she had been a child, Dinah prayed to whatever gods were out there that they'd all make it to the village.

 **End notes:** _ **Nomad-117:**_ _I hope you didn't expect something more cheerful when you began to read this chapter? After all, we had little reason to make it lighthearted. If I'm being completely honest, we had to make sure that we didn't make it too dark. But now it is done, and I am curious what you think about it._

_**Vergil1989** _ _: Considering we just killed Superman's unofficial son, from a cloned, biological standpoint, I think we might have strayed into the grim dark personally lol. Joking aside, this sucked to write, knowing what we had planned, but in my mind, Conner made it too easy for them. He was too strong, too resilient, and he'd have torn apart the Archdemon on his own if given the chance. So, he had to go, but we gave him a hero's ending before he finally fell. But if I'm being completely honest as well, consider the size of the Dragon Age group you pick up, and then include the Young Justice team we sent to Thedas on top of it. Needless to say, we didn't want to overload ourselves with too many characters lol. At any rate, as painful as it was to write Conner's death, it opens up a lot of future plot ideas we have in mind for later, so look forward to those as the rest of this unfolds. Adios, and may the Maker watch over us all._

_As a quick side note, we might be bumping up the rating to M soon. It's only going to get worse from here._


	11. In Death, Loss

_**Opening Notes** _ **:** _Just so there's no confusion regarding Superboy's death, myself and Nomad wanted to say something real quick. For starters, he's only half kryptonian for you non Young Justice aficionados among our readership. The other half is human, Lex Luthor's DNA to be precise, since it's stated in Season 1 of YJ that kryptonian DNA is very difficult to clone. Pure kryptonian clones tend to be unstable, either physically or mentally. The best example of this is one of the Light's early attempts called Mach. He had all the same powers as Superman, but he was a bestial, raging animal despite their best efforts._

_Two, Conner was stabbed with_ _**enchanted** _ _weaponry, and hit with_ _**magic** _ _more than once. Kryptonians are naturally weak against anything magic based, making their super dense musculature and resilience seem like wet paper. So, his death was not 'too easy' as_ _**someone** _ _has said in the reviews. If anything, the darkspawn got lucky by paralysing him first before proceeding to tear him apart. So, anyone else feel like leaving half informed reviews, let us know and we'll happily tear it apart. Willful ignorance will be countered with more opening notes like this, just so you're aware._

_And sorry_ _**Kyren** _ _, just a quick thing to you too while we're at it lol. Cailan wasn't underneath the bridge when it fell. An ogre simply crushed and threw him into what was left, but that was our fault for not making it clear. Sorry 'bout that, but otherwise I'm glad you've loved the story thus far._

_Also,_ _**ChaosSpartan** _ _, I checked the wikis and anywhere else I could think of to check your thing about Andraste's Grace, but all it was is a flower you can give to Leliana. Nothing special about it beyond that buddy. Still, the taint stuff you mentioned was accurate, so it's given me something to think about. Anyway, we'd like to thank everyone that has left anything halfway decent so far, we love you folks a lot. We hope you continue to enjoy what we've got in mind. Adios for now!_

**Chapter 11: In Death, Loss**

**The Eluvian Chamber…**

"Ow….we are _so_ not doing that again hermano." Jaime groaned as he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling of the dark stone chamber. Bart, his compadre on this recon and recovery mission, only sighed and flopped his arms out to his sides as he too tried to recover his equilibrium after that wild ride through the mirror. "Well, not unless an overprotective Bat _asks_ us to do this again."

"You might go, but I won't. I'm not scared of Batman!" Bart said and looked at Jaime, who only looked back silently. "Okay, fine. Bats gives me the creeps! He'd crash my mode he heard me say that."

"The master of understatement there buddy." Jaime chuckled dryly and slowly sat up, his scarab having just completed a scan of their immediate surroundings.

_Jaime, we are approximately two point five yards away from the nearest exit. Recommend caution, we're nearing unknown territory old friend._

After jumping to his feet, Bart looked to Jaime expectantly, knowing all too well what his Blue Beetle armor was capable of. Jaime didn't disappoint as he pointed to the passageway. "That way." He said simply and started walking, Bart close behind him.

"So the plan is what? Locate and grab Nightwing and the rest before running back home?" The speedster asked curiously.

"Weren't you listening in the briefing?" Jaime asked in disbelief, when not only Batman but the whole Justice League was present when one was assigned, most people would pay attention. Evidently, from his confused, vacant expression, Bart wasn't among them.

"Dude, I was kidding! Of course I know why we're here." Impulse retorted and grinned as he zipped ahead, waiting at the statue lined hallway the team had passed by several days ago. "We need to find the team, collect whatever data they got, and if they're unwillin' to leave, then we return without them until their job's done. In the meantime, it's observe and report, and try not to draw attention to ourselves. See? I pay attention!" He waved his hands in the air and grinned wider still, seemingly quite proud of himself.

"I'm so proud of you." Blue Beetle said sarcastically. "Between your speed and my tech based abilities, we should be able to track down the team in no time. That and it helps the armor can fold away into the scarab on my back, otherwise I'd have wondered why Batman sent me along for the ride."

 _I just want to say Jaime that the 'ride' here was far more unpleasant to me than you. The mystic energy pathways that connect these Eluvians are….not compatible._ Jaime couldn't shake the feeling the scarab was giving him the sensation of being sick to its stomach, if the scarab actually had a stomach. Though he prefered not to think about such things too hard.

Bart noticed the uneasy look on Jaime's face just as he zipped away again, standing just shy of the last part of the ancient temple. Already he could feel fresh air ahead, and see a few pinpricks of light in the distance, but he didn't pay it much attention. His concern for Jaime came first. "You alright or is the scarab feelin' the mode?"

"Yeah, says the Eluvian wasn't compatible. No surprise there though, magic always makes the thing grouchy." Jaime rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, feeling rather odd about acting as the scarab's mouthpiece, even though he'd been doing that for the better part of a year now. To those that weren't aware of it though, he came off as crazy, seemingly talking to himself or to a voice only he could hear, which the latter part was all too true.

 _Magic deconstructs the Beetle armor, of course I'd be grouchy._ The scarab's AI growled in response.

"I don't think these things are compatible with _anything_ , at least according to my stomach." Bart quipped with a smile.

Jaime chuckled in response and continued to walk up the stairs before them. It didn't take the two heroes long to reach the entrance after that. A quick examination revealed what looked like a large explosion had been detonated in the tunnel's entrance. The blast marks were consistent with a high yield charge, which had been used to clear the rubble away, allowing Thea, Jaime guessed, to leave the area. "Wow, I somehow didn't imagine _this_ when Green Arrow said that his sister could be rather straightforward."

"Heh, you obviously haven't seen what they get up to five years from now." Bart chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Benefits of time travel Jaime."

"No spoilers." Jaime said jokingly, before he turned more serious. "But out of curiosity… do I survive this?"

When Bart's grin turned into an all too serious frown, Jaime became worried. It was rare for the speedster to show his far more serious nature, but when he did, it was always best to listen up. "Honestly Jaime? I got no idea what we're headin' into. We seriously crashed the future when we stopped the Reach, so this is a whole new thing for me too dude."

"Not sure if I like the sound of that or not." Jaime replied after a tense silence had fallen over the two.

And just like that, Impulse's frown disappeared and was replaced with his customary trademark grin. "Come on, have you never seen Star Wars? Always in motion the future is." Bart said and did his best Yoda impression.

"Yeah, I've seen Star Wars." Jaime said slightly annoyed. "I also remember someone once saying that knowledge of the future grants power over the present."

"Well, considerin' it was my warning that crashed the Reach's plans for Earth, I'd say that's pretty true in our case."

"Yeah, so in your version of the future there came no nightmarish creatures crawling out of Gotham's sewers?" Jaime asked just as he telepathically summoned his armor over his civilian clothes. The scarab attached to his spine obliged him and folded over him from head to foot, blue and black plates appearing and tightening around his figure like a second skin. Once it was complete and he was encased in his trademark uniform, Jaime did a scan for any League or Young Justice locator beacons or GPS tracker chips. Depending on the distance, he knew it might take a few minutes at best.

Bart shook his head and shrugged. "Nope, never found any Eluvians or freaky creatures in my messed up timeline. If they did, the Reach never advertised them. Not that they needed them." Bart looked away, remembering all too well the nightmare that had been their Beetle Warriors. They had been bad enough on their own. The Beetles, Black being the worst of the bunch, had made metahumans like himself and other heroes that had been born with powers seem like chump change by comparison.

Bart looked up when he felt Jaime's hand on his shoulder and nodded in reassurance. "Hey, we stopped them, that time's not coming. Not anymore."

"Yeah I know, still have the nightmares every now and again though." Bart admitted, his gaze downcast before he pushed those dark memories away and perked up once again. "So, any luck with that scan BB?"

"Still working on it. I'm not picking up any signals at all. No WiFi, no radio broadcasts, nothing. This world's a few decades behind us I'd guess." Jaime continued to sweep his amber, jewel like optical lenses to and fro, before deciding he needed to get some altitude. "I'll be right back." Just like the armor itself, the scarab produced two wing frames from the center of his back and allowed him to float above the treeline seconds after a transparent film materialized within the wing frames themselves.

"Hopin' higher altitude will increase your sensor range? Nice!" Bart cheered from the forest floor, making his approval known for Jaime's quick thinking.

Jaime ignored him, too focused on the task at hand as he hovered a foot above the forest. From here he could see the edge of the woods, but his gaze jerked elsewhere, and zoomed in on where he had just picked up a few of the signals he'd been looking for. "Got it! About fifty miles south, south east. Looks like a village off in the distance."

"Then let's go!" Bart shouted up to him before vanishing at high speeds.

"Bart wait! Damnit!" Jaime grumbled before following him as fast as he could. "Remember, avoid detection if possible. Yeah, Bart charging into a village at super speed will _definitely_ be subtle." _On the other hand_ , Jaime mused, _Bart was able to run through that underwater Reach base without being seen._ He just hoped he didn't draw unwanted attention to himself as Jaime made it a point to fly a lot higher into the sky before activating the Beetle's plasma charged rocket system on his back. It was the only way he'd be able to keep up with Impulse, and he wasn't even running near the speed of light at that moment.

He was relieved then when he saw Bart had stopped just shy of the village, and seemed to be waiting for Jaime to land. "We got a problem." Impulse said, his face grim as he nodded to the village. "Looks like they've come out of something pretty bad." It didn't take Jaime long to see what he was talking about as they ducked into a bush, giving him time to hide his armor underneath his clothing again. Not that he noticed, the screams of the dying and the sobs of those who had lost someone were all encompassing even at this distance.

"What happened here?" Jaime asked, his brown eyes riveted to the scene before them. Dozens, possibly hundreds of people were being moved out of the village, most of them on makeshift stretchers and piled on horse drawn carts. Most of them bore injuries, ranging from broken bones to lacerations.

"No idea, some kind of natural disaster perhaps?" Bart suggested uncertainly.

"I doubt that, the village is intact. Unless these are refugees from other areas I don't see how it could have been a disaster." Jaime replied uneasily and glanced at Bart. "You think they got attacked by the same creatures that are running rampant in Gotham?"

"Possibly, it'd make the most sense." That thought didn't sit well with either hero as Bart disappeared from sight for a moment before returning with new clothes in his outstretched arms. They weren't much to look at, but Jaime nodded his approval since it'd make walking around the village a lot easier. "We ain't gonna find anything else here. Let's hope we can fool the locals by dressing the part."

"Right." No sooner had Jaime taken the simple brown work shirt and leather breeches from Bart, did the speedster zip off and run back, having already switched outfits. "Sometimes you annoy me." Jaime grumbled in annoyance

"Ah, you jealous esse? Lighten up Jaime." Bart chuckled and dusted himself off before twisting this way and that to get a better look at himself. "Meh, too medieval for me, but beggars and choosers and all that."

"True, besides we are just here to find our friends. Shouldn't take too long." Jaime said with a shrug as he pulled off his blue hooded jacket before doing the same with the white T-shirt underneath. Tossing them to Bart, he looked at the roughspun green tunic and frowned. "You couldn't find anything in white? I'm gonna look like a green turd in this."

"Dude, just put it on already!" Bart retorted and glared up at his taller companion, impatience already building behind his pale green eyes. The rapid tapping of his right foot made that readily apparent.

"Alright alright alright, sheesh hermano." Jaime grumbled back and shook his head before slipping on the tunic and the pair of leather brown breeches he'd been able to find in such short notice. "There, ya happy esse?" Jaime grumbled in annoyance.

"Yeah! 'Bout time too, we're burnin' daylight here!" Bart grunted in retort.

"Says the guy that can break the sound barrier just by sneezing." Jaime deadpanned in response. Despite his mild annoyance, he couldn't help but smile towards his friend before his brown eyes fell on the village again. Whatever had happened here, he had to hope the rest of their friends were alive and well, but something in his gut said they wouldn't get off that easily. Nothing ever went off without a hitch in their line of work, and Jaime would have been disappointed if their luck changed now, although that didn't stop him from hoping the odds were with them….for once.

Jaime and Bart stuck close together, and it was just as well since the moment they joined the crowd coming to and from the village, they didn't miss the palpable tension in the air. People were frightened, and fear made people do stupid things, something else they were all too familiar with. Gilford G. Godfrey, a news anchor that usually made it a point to make the League's life miserable through negative broadcasts, detailing their supposed faults, had stirred up enough fear and mistrust on his own in his years on air. This was different though, vastly different in fact. This was immediate, all encompassing, and thick enough to dull a knife.

"Hold him down!" A voice to the side shouted and when the two heroes turned towards the sound, they saw a wounded man being held down by what they guessed were his comrades. The man was clearly in great pain, and fully conscious while they tried to treat his wounds. Before Bart could run off to help, Jaime clamped a hand down on his shoulder, and sadly shook his head. He wanted to do the same thing, but they had their own job to do, their own friends to find. They wouldn't get anywhere if they stopped to help everyone between here and them.

As they walked through the village, they were forced to witness far worse things than wounded men. A quick, subtle scan by the scarab on Jaime's back revealed more than a few of the soldiers had been tainted, much like Richard, and these people seemed to know exactly what that meant. It became all too clear when one man was put to the sword, per his heart breaking request, ending both his misery and his life before he could become another of the monsters that had swept through Gotham's streets. Jaime had to look away, his mind supplying the dreaded image of Richard asking for the same thing. No...he was stronger than that, they hadn't been too late. They had to have found something by now, or the others would have returned by then with the bad news.

Bart remained uncharastically quiet throughout the long walk as they honed in on the source of the GPS tracking chips. Even without a satellite network in orbit here in Thedas, the scarab was still able to track them down because of its advanced alien tech, but he didn't care about the details, only that they were finally getting close as they reached the edge of town. A mostly empty field stretched before them, with a small number of small, simple houses on the horizon. "You sure this is the right place Jaime?"

"The scarab seems to think so." Jaime replied softly and gestured towards the house and the barn a little ways behind it the scarab had directed him to. "M'gann, Zatanna, Artemis, Wolf, and Dinah are here. Richard is in the nearby woods, and it looks like he's heading this way, although whether it's on his own power or someone else's I can't tell. Thea and Conner I'm not sure about." Something about the fact they weren't moving, at least as far as his scans had suggested, didn't sit well with Jaime at all. Pushing that to the back of his mind, Blue Beetle was about to knock on the door when he and Bart heard someone cry out in pain. Not about to wait for an invitation, Bart vibrated right through the wooden door before Jaime encased himself in his armor and shoulder charged the flimsy barrier.

They immediately backpedaled when a fireball chased them out, hurled by a petite woman wielding a staff. "Whoa!" Jaime yelled out and held his hands up in a placating gesture when he rolled onto his back and faced the brown eyed sorceress that had just tried to fry them. "We're friends! We heard a yell!"

"Jaime? Bart?" The young woman immediately backed off and looked over her shoulder just as Dinah stuck her head around the battered doorway. Relief immediately filled her blue eyes and she put a hand on the sorceress's shoulder. "They're with us."

"Ah, that explains why they felt the need to break down the door. I could always turn them into ash for giving us a heart attack." Bart had since zipped to Jaime's side and helped him out of the dirt, but he raised an eyebrow at the casual threat thrown their way.

"Ask me again later Bethany." Dinah chuckled weakly before gesturing the pair inside. The tired, almost defeated look on the blonde's face clued them in that things had not gone well. A quick peek inside at those that were gathered around the small, kitchen table told a similar tale.

"What happened BC?" Jaime asked the moment he and Bart had walked inside, and the one she had called Bethany had shut the door behind them. Zatanna was fast asleep, slumped partially over the table with one arm underneath her head. Artemis was awake and aware, but she and everyone else he noticed were covered in bruises, cuts, and scrapes. Dried blood also clung to their respective clothes, but it was the resigned, defeated look in all of their eyes that he noticed first. The source of the cry became clear when he saw the recently bandaged shoulder M'gann was sporting. The martian herself was being tended to by an older, gray haired woman. A pile of old, blood soaked bandages were next to her, but she didn't seem to notice. When he laid eyes on a black haired, brown eyed woman next to her chair, blue pale light emanating from her outstretched hands and into M'gann's shoulder.

"We got our asses kicked." Artemis muttered quietly, drawing Jaime's attention away from the other mage, her gray eyes downcast as she absentmindedly rubbed at her right arm through the black, skin tight portion of her Tigress armor. "The darkspawn, those freaks we've been fighting since they popped up on Earth, destroyed the army the local moron of a King put together to stop them. He died, the Grey Wardens, apparently the only ones capable of stopping them, were slaughtered, and we've lost track of Richard, Thea….and Conner….." The last was said barely above a whisper, but it was loud enough for a fresh wave of tears to start pouring down M'gann's face.

It was like someone had just punched Jaime in the stomach as he slumped against the wall. Bart was just as shocked as he fell into the last available chair in the house. "No way….Superboy's….gone?"

"That's….impossible." Jaime whispered, unable to get his voice to go any higher as he fell to the floor after sliding down the rest of the way. If Conner could be taken out, then what about the rest of them? He hadn't been a part of the team for long, but he'd seen enough of the kryptonian clone to have built up an image of him being all but invincible, just like Superman himself. Or near enough anyway that it wouldn't matter what hit them, but apparently he'd been mistaken, seriously mistaken. "Are you sure?" Jaime dared to ask, and immediately regretted it when M'gann slowly looked up, her eyes red and puffy.

"I...haven't felt him….not since I woke up here." She muttered softly, an accusatory tone in her voice as she looked towards Zatanna before her hard expression softened. She sighed and looked at the table, her eyes unfocused even though they fell on the pile of bloody bandages that had been wrapped around her shoulder before she looked to the two women at her side. "Thank you for...letting us stay here again."

"It...is the least I could do." The older woman said, her own blue orbs filled with concern and worry. "You all tried to stop the darkspawn, and from the few stories I've heard from the soldiers that have passed by, you did far more than we had a right to ask."

"Mirian and Carver are fine, Leandra." Dinah said and put a hand on the woman's shoulder. "If anyone could survive, they could. Especially if Thea was with them." Leandra only nodded, unable to muster even a weak smile at the woman's attempted reassurance. Dinah sighed, knowing just as well as anyone that their chances were low at best.

Artemis scoffed but said nothing before stomping past Bart and Jaime. No one so much as flinched when she slammed the door behind her. "Maybe she has the right idea." M'gann whispered, and looked up to Dinah when she registered the blonde's inquisitive glance. "We failed...we lost Richard, Conner...is gone, and the darkspawn are going to hit this place in a matter of days. ...We don't even belong here."

"And when did that ever stop us? The League has helped other places before, though there was no gain in it." Dinah said slowly, and shot a small glance at the martian. "It's true, we lost the battle, but we can't simply abandon them to their fate. I know it hurts M'gann, but we still have a responsibility to finish what we started."

"Right...because that worked so well already." M'gann muttered disdainfully. She didn't react when the mage at her side squeezed her good shoulder save to jerk her arm away from her.

"Bart, Jaime, your mission's to get intel about our whereabouts and a status report?" Dinah asked, and she continued before they could answer her. "Nightwing is stabilized and the infection seems to be contained, though he is currently MIA. We'll wait here until we are forced to leave or he shows up, the rest you already know. When you return home, take M'gann with you. She's been through enough." M'gann looked up briefly at Dinah, surprised by what she had just said, but the moment passed and she returned to staring listlessly at the table. The others didn't need Dinah to tell them the fight was gone from the powerful martian. Losing Conner might as well have killed her as well for all intents and purposes.

"Alright." Jaime agreed reluctantly before looking towards Bart. "You can cover more ground than me esse. Go out there, see if you can't find Richard. And Bart," the speedster stopped and looked over his shoulder just as he had been about to take off. "Be careful buddy."

"I will." Bart replied gravely and pulled his goggles down over his face before disappearing a moment later. Bethany, Alex, and Leandra stared in varying levels of surprise after Impulse when a blast of wind followed in his wake, shaking the small house to its foundations when he broke the sound barrier.

"You get used to it after a while." Dinah explained tiredly and patted Zatanna's shoulder when the sorceress jerked away from the immense boom that had followed Impulse's exit. "It's alright, it was just Bart."

"Oh, that explains a lot." Zatanna replied and sighed as she made a perfunctory effort to straighten out her hair. Like everyone else, she was dirty and tired and just as depressed by their recent losses, both personal and otherwise. To make matters worse, she felt like the entity that had been watching her in the Fade had grown bolder, and she could hardly blame it. She was exhausted both physically and mentally, if a demon wanted to strike, now would be the best opportunity.

Though perhaps a demon wouldn't even get the chance to finish her since she felt bad enough as it was. She would be lying if Zatanna claimed that the things she had seen, the things she had done, didn't bother her. Despite all that, Zatanna knew one thing for certain, the darkspawn needed to be wiped out, an opinion that had only been hardened further after the massacre at Ostagar. The problem was convincing the others of that fact as she swept her pale blue eyes over the group. M'gann was utterly defeated, Artemis had walked out, Richard and Thea were missing, and Dinah seemed...almost resigned about it all. Like she was physically present but mentally she was still on that field, where Duncan had gave his life according to what she had told them earlier.

If she was honest with herself, then she couldn't say that she was all that surprised. They were used to brief engagements, get in, get out with no one the wiser unless they had to cause a ruckus on the way out to ensure their successful escape. This time, they had been forced to participate in a battle of a scale that had been far beyond anything they had been through before. The only thing that came close was their assault on Mongul and his gigantic space station, War World, and even then they hadn't suffered any significant losses. They'd been captured for a brief time, but that had been the extent of it. Ever since coming to Thedas though, things had gone from bad to worse. _No...that had started when these monsters came to Earth._ Zatanna mused and looked away from M'gann's tear stained face.

She hadn't said it, not out loud anyway, but the sorceress knew she blamed her for pulling them out without Conner despite him shouting for them to leave him behind. She was terrified that those accusations were true, that she had truly caused Conner's death. _If I had stayed behind, would he still be alive? Or would we have simply joined him in death?_ She asked herself, and not for the first time. She'd been asking that question since she had gotten them to Lothering, she had continued to ask that question even as exhaustion finally took her down, both physically and magically induced. She had held little back two days ago, and she was still feeling the effects of throwing all she had into her incantations during the battle. A look at her right hand and Zatanna could see it was shaking she was still so exhausted. Although, she knew it wasn't just from that, part of it was from her own emotional turmoil over recent events.

Dinah noticed, but said nothing. What could she possibly say? They had known it was part of the job, the risk of not making it back home during a mission, but knowing it and experiencing a death in the team were not the same thing. First Wally had given his life, and now Conner. If this continued and they kept losing friends, the founders of Young Justice would be gone this time next year, if not sooner.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Dinah flinched in surprise, having forgotten that they weren't alone in the room. She look up at Leandra and silently shook her head. She didn't trust her voice right now, and the more she thought about what had happened, the less she was inclined to. She wanted to scream, to vent her own loss and frustrations at having failed those around her, but forgetting the fact a scream from her vocal cords would probably shatter every eardrum within a mile radius, it wouldn't do her any good in the long run. Leandra only nodded in reply, needing no explanation from the young blonde. "I am sorry...for everything you've had to endure for our sake Dinah."

"Yeah, me too." Dinah said quietly, knowing that the older woman was worried sick about her children. Of course it didn't help that every survivor who arrived told of new and greater horrors. Of darkspawn dragging away some while they killed the rest in whatever fashion they liked. No one could stop them now, and they knew it, so they were in no hurry despite their own heavy casualties.

There were other tales too, about Grey Wardens or other 'mysterious' heroes, though they all ended tragically. The darkspawn hadn't simply won the battle, they also had crushed the morale of what was left of the army. Despite this, a few of the men that had seen them in action, Dinah had noticed their eyes lit up just a little bit before the darkness reclaimed whatever hope their heroics had garnered. Though she wondered how they were supposed to give hope when they had none themselves.

Whatever else might have passed through her mind disappeared when Bart returned, a weak but still visible grin on his face. "Found our illustrious leader! He's alive, and bringing a few friends. Some guy named Alistair, a witch lady called Morrigan, and a moody babe by the name of Morwen. I _might_ have gave her a heart attack." He nodded to the tear in his right sleeve, where he had just avoided having his arm taken off when he had come to a dead stop right in front of the small group. "I also might have deserved it." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

For the first time since their crushing defeat at Ostagar, Dinah felt something akin to happiness at the news. Even M'gann looked up briefly, and while she didn't visibly react, a just noticeable sliver of light returned to her brown eyes. It wasn't much of an improvement, but it was something. "Good job Bart. Did he give you anything to send back?" Dinah asked, although she had a feeling she knew the answer already.

"Yep!" He patted his pants pocket and nodded his head vigorously. Richard had given him the data drive from his suit's computer. Every bit of recorded data he had on the darkspawn was stored inside, making it one of the most valuable items on his person at that moment. "I'll run it back and return as soon as I can." Before he took off, he turned to Leandra and Bethany, his grin disappearing nearly as quick. "I'd advise packing up soon. These darkspawn might be a few days, a week at most before they swarm town, but I wouldn't wait around for them." Having since stood to his feet, Jaime nodded his head in agreement.

"Thank you, but I can't leave, not until I know my children aren't...coming back."

"What do they look like? I might be able to find them for you." Bart offered with a smile, eager to help if he could.

Before Leandra could say a word, Jaime put a hand on Bart's shoulder and shook his head. "I got this hermano, you have your own errand to run." Turning to Bethany and Leandra, Jaime nodded towards the two. "I'll do what I can to find them. If you have a picture, anything like that, it'll make it easier."

"Are you sure that's wise? What if you're caught?" _Or worse_ , but Leandra didn't say that out loud. Her desire to see her children again stopped her from saying anything more.

"Don't worry, I have my own way of getting in and out of enemy territory, I'll be alright ma'am." Jaime assured her with an easygoing smile. His smile started to fade when the scarab protested this latest insane idea, but he ignored it as Leandra disappeared into another part of her home. When she came back, she was holding a small locket, carved to resemble her family's crest he figured.

"Here, the picture inside is fairly recent...before my husband passed away. Maker go with you." Leandra told him and gave him the locket, inside was a small painting that showed Leandra, Bethany, her siblings he guessed, and their late father.

"Thanks. I'll be back as soon as I find them." He promised and gingerly took the locket from Leandra's grasp before walking out the door.

"And that's my cue. Back in a flash!" Bart cheerfully called out before running off for the second time in as many minutes.

Jaime hardly noticed as he walked a ways into the field before he activated his armor once more. While the picture inside would help him identify Leandra's children, he still had Thea's locator chip he could track. If they had been together, then they were likely still together. Unless something happened, a possibility he did his best to ignore as he blasted off, a trail of plasma following in his wake as the Beetle Armor's rocket system took him deep over the wilds.

_The probability of their still being alive has dropped significantly since the battle ended. According to what we've seen and heard for ourselves, I calculate that was approximately two and a half days. If they are alive, the chances of them being infected with the mutagenic plague is still significantly high, making their rescue an exercise in futility._

"We don't abandon our friends, no matter the odds." Jaime retorted harshly, even though a small part of him agreed that it was pretty long odds. On the other hand, they'd done a lot more with less, but even then the chances didn't look good for Thea and Leandra's kids. "Just tell me when you pick up anything unusual."

 _Fine._ The scarab retorted, making its distaste plain as day. Despite the fact that they had been 'partners' for some time now, they still quite often disagreed with each other. _Caution advised, seismic readings indicate these 'darkspawn' are digging just ahead. Estimated time of arrival to Lothering, four days at current rate and speed._

"Right." Jaime replied, making a mental note to have this job done well before the darkspawn swarmed the village. The next several hours, even burning plasma like it was going out of style, was relatively silent as Jaime became lost in his thoughts, none of them good. Whatever hope of finding Thea and Leandra's children in a timely fashion went out the window though when he saw the beginning of the valley of Ostagar and the surrounding fortress. "Whoa…." He gasped, and had to look away at the slaughter his eyes fell upon from his high altitude. He had a bird's eye view of everything, and it was enough to make him sick to his stomach. He didn't even want to imagine the smell, even through his mask's filters and air scrubbers. But he had to go down amongst the rotting, and in some cases, half eaten corpses if he wanted to find the others. He sincerely hoped Leandra's kids were with Thea, he really didn't to be here a moment longer than he had to be.

Though he had a far more personal reason for being here. While Thea's well being concerned him, as did the lives of her companions, he remembered hearing that Conner had died on this field. He and the super clone had never been particularly close, but Superboy deserved better than to lie on this battlefield, forgotten by all but his closest friends. He would find Conner and bring him home, the last act of service he could offer a friend. Provided he could even get close, but a scan of the valley floor and the surrounding area said he'd be lucky just to find Thea, let alone Conner.

There were darkspawn crawling over everything. It was like looking at a swarm of locusts, devouring anything they could get their hands on or looting the dead of their weapons and armor. He just hoped that they wouldn't desecrate Conner's remains, but he had a feeling they already had, or they were going to before the day was over.

A quick glance at what remained of the bridge as he flew past, and Jaime stopped mid flight, his gaze riveted to a light brown, almost blonde haired man, stripped down to his underwear, being tied and impaled to several posts. "What the?" He mused aloud, wondering why they were paying such attention to one man out of the thousands dead around them.

The scarab was quick to remind him the longer they stayed, the greater the chances were of their own discovery. _Distance to GPS chip, seventeen yards due southeast. Looks like she might have tried to circle around the ruins of the fortress with the bridge out._

"Alright. Prepare weapons, just in case." The scarab didn't disappoint as Jaime watched as both of his armored gloves transformed, his right hand becoming a plasma beam cannon while the left took on the familiar shape and form of his sonic disruptor. He just hoped he wouldn't have to use either, or they'd bring the entire horde down on themselves. The Reach manufactured scarab and the Beetle Armor it could create was powerful, but it wasn't unstoppable. _He_ wasn't unstoppable, a point made evident by what he'd already experienced while in Arkham Asylum what felt like a lifetime ago now.

He stopped and hovered just above where the scarab had directed him, seeing half a dozen darkspawn in the immediate area. Jaime cursed under his breath, but he was relieved to see that underneath a pile of dead soldiers, there was a heat signature, still very warm, and very much alive. "Please tell me your short range comms are still working." Jaime whispered as he tapped at the right side of his head, searching for Thea's radio frequency.

"Jaime?!" Hearing Thea's voice, panicked as it was, couldn't have made Blue Beetle happier. "God am I glad to hear you." The relief was palpable in the archer's voice. Jaime caught a flash of movement, and upon closer inspection after zooming in on the trapped woman, he could just make out her green eyes. "If I make it out of here, I am never making fun of Ray and Felicity's nonstop technobabble ever again. Embedding comms in the costume's collar, I thought it was a stupid idea at the time." She rambled, struggling to remain calm and failing miserably.

"Thea, take a breath." Jaime said, and waited a couple moments for his companion to gather her thoughts. "I'm going to get ya out of here esse, just give me a moment to think."

"Easy for you to say, you haven't been stuck down here for hours on end." Thea snapped, and immediately clamped her mouth shut when one of the nearby monsters turned towards her. Both she and Jaime sucked in a breath, and held it as the genlock looked this way and that, its pitiless black eyes sweeping the corpse strewn field. Giving a muffled growl, it turned back to its former task. The moment it did, he and Thea let out a massive, albeit quiet, sigh of relief. "Right, okay, not doing that again."

"Just hang tight Speedy, I think I have an idea." Jaime about rocketed away, but he stopped and looked back down towards the trapped heroine. "You were with two others-"

"Carver Amell and Mirian Hawke? Their mother and sister's looking for them, Leandra and Bethany right? They were right beside me the other night."

"Yeah, you seen them?"

"We got separated after M'gann sent the order to run. I lost track of them yesterday afternoon, trying to evade these bastards. One of the giants threw one of the soldiers, and I happened to be in the way. That's how I got stuck here in the first place." It wasn't the best news, but it was something at least. It meant they were still alive, somewhere out here, at least last time Thea had seen them anyway.

Having since decided on a plan, Jaime started away from the corpse pile. "Alright. When the noise starts, get ready to run."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Thea muttered sarcastically before falling silent. Taking that as his cue, Jaime flew away without the use of his plasma rockets, wanting to run silent until he was in place. "And BB?" Thea asked, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah I know, be careful right?" Jaime asked.

"I was going to say don't get dead, but that works too." Thea replied with as much nonchalance as she could muster.

"Right, thanks for that Speedy." Jaime muttered back with a heavy sigh. This he understood at least, this he could do. Saving one of their own, he knew how to do that. Dealing with these darkspawn? Trying to understand them, that was something else. But he pushed those thoughts to the side as he powered up his weaponry. They only had one shot, and he'd have to pick up Thea on his way back. "Ready to go to work?"

 _Do you even have to ask? Let's do this Jaime._ The six darkspawn they had seen earlier never knew what hit them as a concentrated beam of plasma swept over them, turning the tainted creatures into piles of ash. The rest of them in the immediate area took notice and stopped everything they were doing, and came at Jaime with screams and howls on their lips.

Jaime answered their screams with a sonic disruption blast, sweeping his secondary weapon across a wide arc. "Give me more juice here esse!" He cried out when he saw that the bigger enemies weren't being slowed down quite as much as he'd have liked. And the biggest of the bunch were simply pushing past the sonic charge altogether, that was until he brought his plasma cannon to bear on them.

The scarab didn't disappoint thankfully as both weapons became noticeably bigger and started putting out bigger, more powerful blasts. His sonic disruption had grown to the point the ground had started to buckle and crack, revealing a network of tunnels that started to collapse. Add in super heated plasma, and it wasn't long before everything in front of Blue Beetle started to sink deep underground, taking the darkspawn with it. Unfortunately it also had the unwanted side effect of allowing those few that survived a chance to climb back up, and when an arrow flew by his right cheek, Jaime turned and saw he was being flanked by more of the monsters.

Despite all this, he was relieved to note Thea was nowhere in sight, and a quick scan of the area revealed her GPS chip was on the move. _Our work here is done, time for us to leave._ The scarab stated coolly as another arrow almost clipped the wing frame on his back.

"No argument here." Jaime replied and took off after his fleeing companion. A thought later had both of his cannons powering down and returning to a far more familiar shape as he flexed his gloved fingers. Wielding those guns always left his hands feeling stiff and sore, that and since the armor was literally tied to his central nervous system, it fed off of his energy to keep it running. Overdoing it always left him tired later. Still, Jaime pushed his creeping exhaustion to the back of his mind for now and swooped down just as he saw Thea jumping over a fallen tree in her path. Catching her before she hit the other side in a roll that would have seen her on her feet in a flash, Jaime grinned in triumph as he pushed back for a higher altitude, just as another wave of arrows were fired where they had just been.

"Wow, gotta say, you certainly know how to sweep a lady off her feet." Thea said, smiling in thanks for his timely arrival.

"Uh...you're welcome. Now, let's just hope we can find your compadres." Once he was sure he was out of reach of even the most skilled archer, Jaime swept his gaze over the forests and swamps around him. Activating the scarab's heat sensor again, he paled a little when he saw nothing but darkspawn in the region they had just left behind.

He was about to say he didn't see the pair when one of the darkspawn several yards further north inexplicably exploded in a shower of gore. "Okay….did one of your new friends have a habit of making a mess wherever they went?"

"That sounds like Hawke. Why what did you see?" Thea asked as she shifted about in Jaime's grasp as much as she dared at such a high height, trying to spot whatever it was he had just seen in the failing light.

"Like a darkspawn exploded." Was the best explanation he could come up with before he flew off in the direction he had just seen the exploding monster. Another quick scan and Jaime saw the reason was as Thea had guessed. There were two humanoid signatures off in the distance, presented as a multitude of orange, yellow, and red shades of light before he remembered to turn off his heat scanner. They promptly took off once they saw they were alone once more, and started heading north towards Lothering, the young woman leading the way. "Yeah, I think we found them."

"Finally, some good news." Thea sighed in relief as she did her best to relax. No easy feat after hiding in a pile of corpses for several hours, fearing her next breath would be her last. But it seemed now the worst was behind her. She couldn't have been more mistaken.

_**End Notes;** Before anyone says anything, Thea, Jaime, and Bart are bound for Kirkwall. They won't be making any further appearances once the team gets separated. For now though they're a part of this arc, but other than the occasional flashback and what have you, they'll be absent from this once the shit hits the fan, and it will, trust me. Anyway, just wanted to nip that in the butt before someone tried to call us out on adding more characters after we just said we weren't going to lol. For now, I'd be more worried about the team that aren't going anywhere. They're in for a lot more hardships in the immediate future than those going to Kirkwall._


	12. Hard Choices, Harder Lessons

_**Opening Notes;**_ _I do feel the slight need to apologize to_ _ **Haywire Eagle**_ _for my last opening notes, but the wording used did seem like it was a slight against how we killed Conner, not for the story itself. I do however agree with his new review, since we probably could have done something else, but it seemed appropriate at the time, as well as what was said in a previous note section regarding making things a bit simpler on myself and Nomad._

_Anyway, hope you guys and gals continue to enjoy the show. Adios for now!_

_Quick but important side note. I know you don't hear this song until Inquisition, but pull up_ _**The Dawn Will Come** _ _. You'll know when to hit the play button, trust me._

**Chapter 12; Hard Choices, Harder Lessons**

**Lothering, Leandra Amell's home.**

Artemis had needed to get out of that house. There had been too much tension in the air, too much silence, even with Bart and Jaime barging in. Any other time, she would have been the first with her bow in hand, ready to turn whoever made the mistake of getting close to her friends into a pincushion, but she had hardly reacted when Jaime and Bart burst through the door. They could have been darkspawn, and she would have been slow on the draw, giving them ample opportunity to kill her and everyone else. That thought led to one she had immediately pushed away since it would have amounted to giving up, and that was something she couldn't afford to entertain.

While she had been relieved to see a couple of familiar faces, Artemis had immediately looked away, unable to meet their respective gazes. Her own shame and sorrow over what had occurred at Ostagar hadn't helped her already bad mood, and so she had ran. She hadn't run far, just far enough to put some distance between herself and the house, but the fact remained. She had ran away, had given up, even if it was in such a small, seemingly inconsequential fashion.

"Artemis." The blonde stopped, halfway between Leandra's house and the barn, and didn't move even when Camdor's hand fell on her shoulder. "Going for a walk?" He asked softly.

"Why do you care?" She scoffed and jerked her arm free before rounding on the Dalish elf.

"Because we're both a part of this situation whether you want to acknowledge it or not." Camdor replied coolly, his voice level while his dark green eyes held a measure of his own resignation and sorrow at what they had recently endured. "As such, I worry about the wellbeing of those I choose to follow."

"...You might be better off following someone else." Artemis said softly before walking away from the elf, her head hung low. It was the closest she'd come to admitting that there was a very real chance they might not bounce back from this disaster. Like the others, the archer knew this defeat was nothing like the ones they had suffered before. The closest that came to her mind was the Red fiasco, as it had been called by Richard afterwards. Red Tornado had had robotic siblings, for lack of a better word, but unlike the android they knew and called a friend, his brother and sister had been very user unfriendly. Red Torpedo and Red Inferno had been sent to capture their wayward brother, but they had had other orders to take out the team while they were at it.

It was the first time Artemis had come close to losing several of her new friends, and she had almost run out on them then when it became all too apparent they were outmatched. Even if she had been able to call the Watchtower and get reinforcements to their old hideout in Mount Justice, the Justice League never would have made it in time before the Reds killed Kaldur, Richard, M'gann, Conner and...Wally. She had known it then, but Artemis had still almost abandoned them, just like Jade had abandoned her when the situation with their father became too much for her to handle. The only thing that had stopped the psychotic androids had been an impossibly placed arrow into an EMP generator Richard had been able to MacGyver before he had been captured as well.

It was a shot Ollie couldn't have pulled off on his best day, or so she had bragged to Felicity and Ray when they had asked about it later at various times. But Artemis knew better, it was because of Oliver she had been able to take that shot and see it land where she had needed it the most. He had been the first to stand by her side when anyone else would have given up on her, save her biological mother at least. Thinking about it now, Artemis would have given almost anything to see him again as she wandered to the Amell barn and kicked the door open. Ignoring the startled growl from Wolf, she walked right past the giant beast before climbing the ladder to the hayloft. Only after she was amidst the few bales of hay did she rip her mask off and throw it into a distant corner before sliding down against the back wall until she was in a sitting position, her legs sprawled out aimlessly in front of her.

She wasn't at all surprised when her subconscious conjured up a perfect replica of Oliver standing over her, concern etched into his face as he sat down beside her. "Had a rough couple of days I see."

Deciding to play along, not that she had anything better to do until either Richard or the darkspawn got to Lothering first, Artemis shrugged. " _That_ would be an understatement." She muttered and looked away, unable to meet her mentor's gaze from a combination of shame at what she'd been required to do just to survive and self loathing at having been unable to do more during the battle. Of having failed to protect her friends despite her best efforts.

"It's never easy….losing those you've grown close to." The mental image of her true father figure said. "Of feeling like you failed when they needed you most."

"I _did_ fail Ollie….they relied on me and I couldn't protect them." Artemis whispered, her gray eyes unfocused as tears started to form. Her hands clenched up into fists before she beat them against the floor at her side. "….I couldn't save Conner….and now M'gann-"

"Did you in any way hold back?" Oliver asked, interrupting her tirade.

She hadn't liked what she had been required to do, not in the slightest, but she had done it anyway. She only gave that thought a brief second to linger before answering Oliver's question. "No but-" Artemis began, but was silenced yet again.

The green hooded archer held up a hand, a ghost of a smile pulling at his bearded face. "You gave it your all, and while it doesn't seem like it was enough, that's all we can ever do Artemis. Win or lose, you did your best, and sometimes it's not enough. I'm not surprised you're handling this so badly, you've always been too hard on yourself."

"Easy for you to say, _you_ weren't there." Artemis growled up at the man, but her angry words didn't have any force behind them. A fact her subconscious version of Oliver picked up on as he reached out and squeezed her shoulder, something the real Oliver would have done and had done many times in the past.

"I know." Oliver replied softly as he stood to his feet and walked away a couple feet before he looked over his shoulder. "You don't have to be strong all the time Artemis. You know better than anyone I've wanted to give up the hood and my bow more than once since we've known each other because of events much like the one you've faced in Ostagar. This is no different for you. The choice in front of you now is simple, but only you can make it." And just like that, he was gone, having jumped out of the hayloft window and disappearing into the slowly growing shadows as evening approached.

Artemis sighed and looked to where she had thrown her Tigress mask. It had landed against the corner, face plate pointing towards her, as if it was staring at her from across the loft. She stared back for several long seconds, giving the desire to simply turn tail and run back to the Eluvian and leave this world to its fate some serious thought. They were outmatched, and even though Richard and some new allies were due back in a couple days at most, she didn't think it'd make much of a difference. This wasn't their world, it wasn't their fight, and they had already lost more than most. They had given enough.

"Then why am I even wearing this getup?" Artemis asked aloud, scoffing as she stood to her feet and crossed the short distance between herself and her mask. "If I gave up every time someone knocked me down, I wouldn't be here in the first place." Yes, they had lost another of their friends, yes they had been trounced, but they were still alive. That meant they still had a job to do. Would it be easy? No, but nothing they had done before had been easy either. This was just another obstacle in their path.

Despite her newfound determination though, Artemis hesitated when she reached down to collect her mask. This was unlike anything they had ever done before, and her gut told her what had happened at Ostagar would only be the beginning. There was some seriously messed up things running around in Thedas, even by their standards, and she had a bad feeling they hadn't even scratched the surface. Did she really want to see how far this particular rabbit hole went? That thought inevitably led back to when her sister had left, leaving no trace of herself except a poster displaying Alice and the Cheshire Cat, the latter from which Jade had taken her name in the League of Shadows. Clenching her fists in rage at even entertaining the idea, _again_ , Artemis snatched up her Tigress mask and put it back on her belt. She was not Jade, she was not their father, and she would not abandon her friends, even if every survival instinct she had said she was being suicidally stupid.

She stopped at the top of the ladder when she saw Camdor staring up at her, a small smile of approval on his tattooed face. "How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough to see you come to your decision, whatever it was. I have a good guess what it was though, because I already came to mine." The elf replied, and waited for Artemis to come down before heading towards the the barn doors. He stopped and ran a hand across Wolf's muzzle, before looking over his shoulder at the bronze clad heroine behind him. "I don't know what it means to be a Grey Warden, a hero of the world against the Blight. I only have my past experiences to draw upon, knowing with absolute certainty that the darkspawn won't spare my clan any more than they'll spare the humans that have hunted the Dalish almost to extinction."

Here Camdor paused and took a moment to consider his next words carefully, all the while Artemis scrutinized him, trying to find a fault in his words thus far. "You are not unfamiliar with this life of uncertainty, yet despite all your strength, it _is_ reassuring you are as fragile and prone to moments of doubt just like everyone else. I saw how fiercely you fought at Ostagar, Artemis. It was as if Mythal herself had come down to aid our cause, as bleak as it was, yet here you were, wondering why you even bothered since our defeat. It made my decision to continue this path far simpler. If we do not stand against the darkspawn, no one else will."

"And how do you propose we do that exactly?" Artemis asked quietly, slightly taken aback by the man's words. She had expected him to be the first to give up since he had made it no secret, at least to her, that he didn't like humans. His reasons were justified if half of what he had told her was to be believed, but despite all that, he was still willing to lay down his life for them because he was right. The darkspawn hadn't been picky about who they killed or took away, she had seen that herself during the battle from their spot on the bridge.

"I don't know." He admitted and shrugged his shoulders, drawing Artemis from her thoughts as he turned fully to meet her gray eyes. "I only know we can't give up, not until our last breath if that's what it takes." With that, Camdor rapidly turned away, his long, bronze brown hair flying over his shoulder, somewhat entangling itself in his bow and quiver. He didn't seem to notice as he walked away, sheer determination radiating off of him in waves.

"Shamed by a Legolas look alike, and not even a good look alike." Artemis chuckled dryly before she sighed heavily, feeling like a giant ass for even doubting herself in the first place. Despite her words and thoughts, the archer did take comfort in one thing. He had admitted to the same doubts she had been wrestling with, were still wrestling with if she wanted to be completely honest, but like her, he had found a way to work through them. She just hoped the rest of her friends could do the same if they decided to stick around to see this through to the bitter end.

**The Amells' House**

M'gann hadn't made a conscious decision to leave, she had just started walking, aimlessly. Like Artemis, she needed air, to be anywhere but at that house even though it was probably as safe a place as any at that particular time. The fact one of her companions, probably Alex, was following her didn't even register as she walked into Lothering, amidst those that had lost almost as much as she had. No one stopped her, no one so much as looked at her, not that she would have responded if they had. She might as well have been deaf and blind to the suffering around her, having shut herself off to the world. It was far easier to bear the pain that way, to just exist with no real course or thought anymore.

Try as she might though, M'gann couldn't keep her mental defenses up among so many, and was quickly inundated under the weight of so many in such close proximity. The task of keeping them out, under any other circumstances, would have been as simple as breathing, but that was before Ostagar…. Because of this, the cries of pain and loss were like a physical assault on her mind, and putting her hands on either side of her head did nothing to block them out.

So she did the only thing she could, she ran. A distant cry from whoever had been following her was ignored as M'gann barged through heavy wooden doors and found some measure of peace from those outside. The distance was the only thing that helped since physical barriers meant little to someone like her, but it might as well have been blessed silence to the young alien as she stumbled into one of the pews at the front of the building. It was only after she sat down did M'gann realize she had wound up in Lothering's Chantry.

M'gann only sighed, the beauty of the simple temple to this world's faith and religion completely lost on her. Even if she had mustered up the courage to feel anything beyond the hole in her chest, to take in the strangely peaceful and quiet solitude of this place, it wouldn't have made any difference. It would all be gone in a matter of days, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Drawing her knees up to her chin, the martian could only wonder what had gone so wrong. Why all this had happened, why they had been defeated...why Conner was...

"Others still need you, even when you're at your lowest." M'gann didn't know what surprised her more as she jerked and looked up towards the petite redhead that had sat down next to her. The fact she had gotten so close without her noticing, or the fact she couldn't hear any of her thoughts, even as close as she was. Her mind was organized, so much so that she might as well have a fortress arranged around her thoughts. Despite that fact, and the suspicion this woman, dressed as a Chantry priestess, was hiding a lot under the surface, M'gann got the impression the sympathetic, compassionate smile on her face was all too real. "You looked like you could use a friend." The woman continued and held out her left hand. "My name is Leliana. And I know who you are."

She didn't seem offended when M'gann refused to take the offered limb, choosing instead to blankly stare at it. If anything, Leliana accepted it in stride and only nodded her head. "I understand, the darkspawn have taken so much from all of us already. You were at the battle, the soldiers made mention of someone fitting your description. A few even mentioned how they heard a voice amongst their thoughts, telling them to retreat. You've saved many."

"Not the one that mattered…." M'gann replied softly.

Leliana nodded again, as if she wasn't surprised at all by her dead monotone. "You have lost someone close to your heart, yes?" While it had sounded like a question, Leliana made it sound closer to a statement. M'gann made no move to acknowledge having heard her one way or the other, but Leliana continued undeterred as she lowered her head ever so slightly. "I know a little of what's that like." Something in the human's tone was just enough to pique the martian's interest, and she looked up ever so slightly, meeting the Chantry sister's gaze. Taking it for what it was, Leliana looked up and sighed. "It was long ago, but suffice it to say, I still carry the scars of that time on my flesh and my soul. But I have moved past it, finding peace in the last place I ever expected. And that is why I have come to you, for I also know you know of the last Grey Wardens."

"Not that it matters." M'gann scoffed quietly.

"The Maker would disagree with you." Leliana replied, and smiled softly when the martian looked up, more curious than ever despite herself. "I thought that would get your attention." The redhead sighed heavily this time and stood to her feet. M'gann watched as Leliana approached the statue before them, and looked up towards the marble woman's face. "I know how it must sound, I know I sound absolutely crazy, but I had a dream, a vision. The Maker has put me in your path, for you and your friends are the only ones able to stop this Blight."

Despite everything, and the fact it did sound absolutely nuts, M'gann slowly let her legs drop over the edge of the pew and regard the human before her in open curiosity now. "You'd be surprised how open minded I can be." She softly replied, and felt the tiniest of smiles tug at her lips at the inside joke she had just made without even meaning to.

"Oh?" Leliana asked, but didn't wait for a reply before turning to face M'gann fully. "Well, I'd be happy to tell you, but I'd feel better if your entire group was present when I tell my story. I know I'm asking you to take a lot on faith, and if you are worried about my wellbeing, don't be. I can handle myself in a fight well enough."

"Al-alright." M'gann hesitantly agreed before standing to her feet and wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Thank you for...talking to me, and for asking to join us in the fight, but I don't know what we're doing honestly. I don't know if we're leaving or staying once the rest of our friends return, but…if I know Richard, he'll insist we see this through." It was just how he was, but that didn't mean she would. Dinah's unexpected offer of having her escorted back through the Eluvian had started to sound very tempting.

"But you won't." The words stopped M'gann cold just as she had started for the door to leave the Chantry. Spinning on her heel, Leliana only crossed her arms and calmly met the spark of rage that had flared up behind her brown eyes. "Perhaps it's not my place to question your decision to raise the white flag, but from the stories I've heard about your stand against the darkspawn, I didn't think you'd be so quick to surrender."

"You don't know me." M'gann bit out angrily. "What I have sacrificed for this life! It ends now, I've lost enough."

"You have every right to feel that way, but I ask you to look around you. Everyone here sacrificed something to the Blight, and they will lose more to it. Could you really stand by while they get consumed by this darkness?" Leliana asked, though not unkindly. M'gann looked away, unable to meet the woman's blue eyes as shame pierced through the fog of pain and rage directed at the world around her. Try as she might, she couldn't ignore other people's suffering, even when she herself was hurting.

"You don't have to answer that now. Just something to think about." Leliana told her smiling and walked back towards the statue behind her. "When you're ready to head back, I'll be here." Try as she might, M'gann wasn't able to force her feet to cooperate when she tried to force them to take her out of the Chantry, and instead sat down on the pew once more. Much to her further annoyance and frustration, Leliana gave her a knowing smile before turning her attention fully on the statue of Andraste.

M'gann was relieved that Leliana's attention was focused on her prayers. At that moment, all she wanted to do was to think and grieve in peace, without her friends wondering if she was alright the whole time, even if they only did so mentally. She hadn't been lying when she had yelled earlier, that she had given up a lot to be what she was, even if she had initially came to Earth because of a rough childhood among her own people. What had started as a selfish desire to start over in a sense had evolved into so much more, but it hadn't taken long for her to realize that it was a lot harder being a hero, a symbol of hope and justice than she had ever imagined.

But she had had Conner and their friends to keep her going. Though now she wasn't sure how she could deal with their loss, first Wally, now Conner. How many of her friends would die before it was all said and done? She knew that they would gladly give their lives to save those unable to protect themselves, but she wasn't sure if she could bear anymore loss.

She was shaken out of her dark thoughts by a single voice that began to sing. It started softly, but the longer it went on, the more voices joined in the song, and the more moving it became. To her telepathic senses, it was even more of a miracle as the song seemed to give comfort to the grieving and courage to those who would fight against the darkspawn.

"Shadows fall, and hope has fled

Steel your heart, the dawn will come

The night is long, and the path is dark

Look to the sky, for one day soon

The dawn will come."

Looking around as the song began, M'gann saw complete strangers bring food and water to those that needed it most. Blankets were handed out to the young and old alike, and she saw one Chantry priest watching over a group of children in a nearby corner, trying to keep their fears at bay by teaching them the words to the melody that had started to reverberate throughout the Chantry.

"The shepherd's lost, and his home is far

Keep to the stars, the dawn will come

The night is long, and the path is dark

Look to the sky, for one day soon

The dawn will come."

Leliana had since added her voice to the rest as she walked away from the statue. Where she had been keeping her intricately decorated lute, M'gann didn't know, but she was apparently no stranger to the instrument as the priestess's fingers danced across the strings with majestic ease. To say she was riveted to her seat in rapt attention would have been a massive understatement.

"Bare your blade, and raise it high

Stand your ground, the dawn will come

The night is long, and the path is dark

Look to the sky, for one day soon

The dawn will come."

Even the most hardened and jaded of warriors had been moved by the song. Their head bowed as they placed their swords in front of them, clearly praying. For a moment, just a moment, she forgot all about her emotional turmoil and could only stare, marveling at what she had just witnessed and felt for herself. The moment passed, but even as a fresh wave of tears started to fall down her face, M'gann couldn't help but give a watery smile towards the woman who had since sat down next to her once more. Without a word, Leliana gently pulled her against her shoulder, letting her cry her heart out. Whether Leliana realized it or not, M'gann could sense nothing but warmth and understanding from her seatmate, the emotions serving as a calming balm for her aching heart.

Unbeknownst to either, Alexandria had been present for most of the affair, and couldn't help but feel renewed hope herself. Having chased after M'gann, something she would have done even without Dinah asking her to when she had ran out of Leandra's home, Alex had almost lost the grieving girl in the crowds outside of the Chantry.

The young mage would be lying if she said that the events of Ostagar didn't lie heavily on her mind as well. Everytime she closed her eyes, she could see the battlefield before her, the countless bodies strewn upon it as the darkspawn advanced. Those vivid images always lead her mind down the same path. If she had fought harder, perhaps Conner would still be alive, perhaps she could have saved more people than she had. Her body told her that she had fought to total exhaustion, but her mind always supplied her with scenarios where she could have done more. _Like you could have done more against Jowan?_ She sighed and banished those thoughts to the back of her mind. She had enough on her plate without adding to the weight on her shoulders. _We did everything we could, and if not for Zatanna flying us out of there when she did, we might not be here even having this conversation._

Zatanna, she was the epitome of what a mage like herself could strive to become if circumstances had been different. Alex still found it hard to believe just how powerful the raven haired woman was, even after fighting at her side for the entire night at Ostagar. That thought inevitably led to another though. For all her power, Alex was still worried about her fellow sorceress, because in her opinion, Zatanna was too quick to dismiss the dangers of the Fade, or perhaps it was just a mask.

Whatever the case, she certainly didn't want the poor woman to fall prey to a demon. They weren't dangerous solely due to their power, but also due to their cunning. Demons rarely attacked someone directly unless they were confident that they could win. They would trick their victim, create illusions of something so tantalizing that their prey would give up all on their own, or offer them something they would find extremely difficult to pass up. Most times that was power, power to change the world, to right the wrongs around them if they were righteous and good like Zatanna, but the cost was always the same regardless of their disposition.

Alex shook her head, forcing herself to focus on the problem at hand, and looked up towards the statue of Andraste. Unlike Leliana, or many of those that called the Chantry a place of safety and succor, Alex only saw the ugly truth behind the religion. It was a cage. Sure, the Chantry and those that followed the faith did good work in most cases, but only if you weren't a mage or an elf did you get treated fairly. Even then, it wasn't guaranteed, depending on which Chantry you happened to visit.

While She wasn't surprised by her own bitterness, Alex had to blink owlishly at the sheer intensity of her budding rage at the injustice of it all. She had fought at Ostagar and saved as many lives as she could, and still she was treated like a danger to society, only her Grey Warden status had ensured that the Templars didn't try anything. She had a feeling however she wouldn't be able to hide behind that for much longer, not with the King dead and Loghain no doubt planning to take over, if he hadn't already.

Deciding to leave before someone took notice of her presence and decided to try their luck with less friendly Templars than the ones that had let her in at the door, Alex let her gaze linger on M'gann and whoever was with her before exiting the church. Whatever faith she had left stayed at the door. She had seen the heart of darkness, and it had stayed with her, leaving little room for much else. Even if they had won at Ostagar, it wouldn't have changed anything save to affect the population for a few years. She would have still been considered a monster, needing to be chained to a Circle tower or the Grey Wardens. Either way, Alex understood better than most nothing they did mattered in the grand scheme of things.

From her position at the Chantry doors, she looked at the street that connected Lothering to the rest of the kingdom and saw a group of soldiers approaching. Their posture alone was enough to give her a bad feeling, but what really worried her was the crest they wore on their shields, a yellow wyvern. It was the crest of Gwaren, the region Loghain Mac Tir ruled over. "Andraste's flaming ass." Alex cursed and pulled her staff just as she spotted Artemis and Camdor coming down the street behind the group. A less than subtle shake of her head was enough for the two archers to get the hint as Artemis put a hand on the elf's shoulder and nodded towards a nearby wooden lookout tower.

They would avoid them for now, at least until they knew what these men wanted here. Alexandria was hardly inclined to trust anyone who was loyal to Loghain. While she knew that they didn't know the whole story, from her perspective though, Loghain had betrayed every single soldier on the battlefield. _Who knows what he is planning now?_ She asked herself silently and did her best to avoid the soldiers' gaze. _Perhaps he wants to use this situation to dispose of his enemies and heighten his own standing._ In all of her extensive reading back at the Tower, solidifying one's power base through such bloody methods had kept cropping up in Ferelden's past.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind did the leader of the group, a gruff, bearded looking man stop and look her way. "You! Mage!"

"I have a name, _soldier_." Alex replied, biting sarcasm dripping off of her tongue.

"Be that as it may, you are one of the Grey Wardens." He stated darkly and took a step closer to her, a hand falling to his blade at his side.

"I'm sorry good ser, but you must be mistaken. This young lady is no Grey Warden." Alexandria's eyes widened comically when she saw who was defending her. It was one of the Templars that guarded the Chantry, the same that had let her into the church in the first place judging by his voice. "She came here after the battle and has been under our watch since then. We have used her to heal the wounded. Once we can spare the resources we will return her to the Tower of Magi." The soldiers looked just as surprised as she felt as they conversed amongst themselves for several tense seconds before walking away, no doubt to harass someone else for the Grey Wardens' last known whereabouts. She was too shocked to think about it further though when she turned towards the man that had stood up for her. The Templar merely shrugged at her befuddled look. "Not all of us will forget the truth my lady, regardless if you are a mage or not." His partner only nodded, but it was enough to get his point across.

"Thank you." She said softly, and smiled at the armored man.

"Whatever for? I am merely doing my duty in watching over a member of the Circle of Magi." He replied, though his voice did little to hide his amusement.

"Of course, Ser Templar. How silly of me." Alex replied, her former cheerful nature shining through ever so briefly as she looked up towards the watchtower, only to see both archers had since descended and were coming towards her. "I think we might be in trouble." She told the pair once they were close enough.

"Looking for us?" Camdor asked. When Alex only nodded, the Dalish elf sighed. "That's not surprising, not if this Loghain is as smart and cunning as I've heard. He needed a scapegoat, and what better one than the Wardens?"

"Considering King Moron Cailan was fascinated by them? Yeah, I'd have to agree." Artemis ignored the coughs they heard from the nearby Templars, no doubt offended by her lack of tact or courtesy for their late King.

"Artemis, remember tact? I think we talked about it before." Alex said sarcastically to the female archer.

"Hey Alex? Bite me. I speak my mind, you don't like it, you can always walk away." Artemis retorted without missing a beat.

"Why would she want to bite you?" Camdor asked, mystified as he looked from one woman to the other. When both slapped a hand over their faces and gave the elf a strange look, he threw his hands in the air and walked away. "Why did I get stuck with such strange people? Creators, give me patience." He muttered none too quietly.

"We're not that bad, Cammy." Artemis said smugly. "Besides, if you want to do something else than wonder about our sanity, then I have a suggestion. We find these bandits everyone is talking about and put an end to them."

Megan and Leliana chose that moment to exit the temple, startling Alex a little just as Camdor looked over his shoulder towards Artemis. "It would help these people, even if it's only until the darkspawn finish what they started at Ostagar. Any light in the dark is better than none, especially now."

"The reward money has nothing to do with it I'm sure." Alex commented dryly, and immediately regretted it when Artemis turned her gray eyes on her.

"No, it doesn't actually. It's called doing the right thing." Artemis snapped back before stomping away. Camdor said nothing, but shot Alex a disapproving glance before giving chase after his blonde and hot headed counterpart, leaving the flustered mage with the Chantry sister and Megan.

Before she could try and explain herself, Megan walked right past her without a word. "I think these are truly selfless individuals. Far more so than we have ever seen." The redhead said when she stopped beside the mage, a mysterious knowing gleam in her blue eyes. "Suggesting otherwise I think was an insult."

"Yeah...I kinda got that impression." Alex muttered quietly, wondering how she was going to get herself out of the hole she had dug herself with that carelessly worded comment. "Though I have to admit, that it's surprising to find such a thing these days."

"Sadly, yes." The redhead admitted with a sigh. "But I am certain that things will get better in the future, no shadow lasts forever. Not even a Blight." With that, Leliana started away after the others.

"I used to believe that…" Alex whispered at Leliana's back, but despite her words that no one heard, the mage did her best to keep up. It wasn't like she had any other options at that moment.

It didn't take them long to find the bandits running about the edges of Lothering. They came to the heroes the moment they past the Amell farm and headed eastward, away from the highway that connected the village to the rest of the kingdom according to Alex. A small lake was in the distance, as were a number of large hills, some of which bore large trees. What they were focused on however, were the group of heavily armed men that charged them from a recently abandoned house, a couple of their drawn blades covered in fresh blood, human blood if they were any judge.

"We can't spare them if they've already killed innocents. By shemlen law, they'd hang this time tomorrow if we were to take them alive, provided they weren't left for the darkspawn." Camdor said, his latter comment made clear that he didn't approve of the treatment the captured Qunari received that they had seen upon their return, and drew out his bow in a blur, an arrow already nocked and ready to fly. "Some would say we are granting them a mercy they do not deserve."

Artemis wasn't so quick to judge even as her sword flew from its scabbard just as the first bandit lunged at her. Sparks flew in every direction as the bandit's poorly maintained blade shattered against Artemis's superior steel. "Not my style Cammy. We take as many of them alive as we can." The archer replied as she fluidly dodged a second strike, the bandit having decided to use his broken sword as a makeshift dagger, before snapping her leg up across the man's face. He went down like a sack of rotten apples, but she was already moving to engage a second.

But the second bandit was already dead, having turned towards the Chantry sister only to walk right into her drawn dagger. The man looked stunned until a second entered the base of his brain through his jaw. Leliana had since moved on, spinning gracefully around Artemis before she could move. "May the Maker grant you mercy." She softly said after pulling her dagger free of the bandit's chest.

"Not bad for a priestess, red." Artemis quipped even as she internally flinched at how easily Leliana had dispatched their latest foe. The darkspawn had been one thing, but these were people, not monsters. She didn't get to contemplate for long though when M'gann threw another of the bandits into a nearby oak with enough force to shatter his arm when he landed. He wasn't dead, but judging from his agonized scream, he probably wished he was. Gray eyes met brown for a brief moment, before Artemis nodded her thanks to the martian just as a third tried to take her down. Camdor fired over her head when she ducked under both the sword swing and his arrow, the elf's arrow finding the mark in the bandit's throat.

For her part, M'gann fought well as she kept to the edges of the battle, flinging the few bandits that were left at this point with casual waves of her hands, directing her telekinetic assaults like a conductor on stage. But for those that knew her, her heart and mind were elsewhere. Despite this, it was a vast improvement from her near catatonic state not even an hour ago.

At this point, most men would have tried to beg for mercy from a clearly superior force, but as Camdor had already said, the bandits that remained standing knew they were dead men if they were captured. As such, seeing that the mage had done nothing since the beginning of the confrontation, the three that were left tried to rush her in the hopes of getting free and clear. The only reason Alex hadn't moved a muscle was because she hadn't had a clear shot, a fact they found out too late when she raised her staff and sent a bolt of chain lightning towards them. The bolt arced and crackled between them, frying two of them on the spot and incapacitating the third.

When it was over and the survivors bound hand and foot, Artemis sighed heavily at the freshly dead around them. It seemed that no matter where they went in this world, death soon followed after them. She didn't look over her shoulder when she felt rather than saw the Chantry sister standing on her right side, with Camdor on her left. "I just want to go on record and say I don't approve, but we took them down, that's all that matters."

Neither elf or priestess needed Artemis to elaborate as Camdor merely shrugged. Leliana however felt the need to state the obvious. "I do not like needless bloodshed either, but these men would not have shown you the same mercy if the tables had been turned."

"That doesn't make it right!" Artemis shouted as she rounded on the redhead before taking a breath to calm herself. It helped when M'gann flinched back at her reaction, reminding the archer that she was still emotionally fragile, and radiating anger and frustration around the martian wouldn't do her any favors. Taking a second breath, she crossed her arms and glared daggers at both her and Camdor equally. "I get it, trust me, but I still don't like it. We had them on the ropes the moment we got here, there was no need to kill them."

"Perhaps, but it's done." Camdor stated flatly before kicking one of their bound prisoners. "Since you're so insistent on this however, you can carry one of them back to whoever's in charge of the town's defenses. But know this Artemis." The Dalish locked his green eyes on her face, his own hard as stone. "Men like these are more akin to the darkspawn, feeding on people's weakness and vulnerability. The priestess is right in saying they would not have shown you such mercy, so the sooner you learn that it's kill or be killed in this world, the better."

If not for Alex pushing her way past the two archers and forcing the only conscious bandit to his feet before marching him towards the village, she was sure Camdor and Artemis would have come to blows then and there. As it were, both broke eye contact with the other at the same time and slung an unconscious bandit between them on their shoulders before following after the mage. The dead they left on the field, but the tension that had fallen over the group followed them. This argument was clearly not over, not by a long shot.

**The Amells' home.**

Despite her own concerns for her children, Leandra couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards the older blonde as she peered forlornly out the window. While it was no secret that they were not her children, those that followed her and looked to her for guidance, the elder Amell still got the impression that Dinah still cared for her charges a great deal. Almost as much as she cared for her own children in fact. With that thought came another, mainly how strange her life had become since the arrival of these foreigners who claimed to have come from another world altogether. But given their unique powers and abilities she had seen a glimpse of, not to mention their equally strange clothing and weapons, there was no other explanation for it. Her own husband had often spoke of objects of great power during his years in the Circle, and despite his vow to the contrary, he had given a hint of what he'd done for the Wardens years before to secure their passage to Ferelden in the first place. He had spoken, briefly, of some great and malevolent force from an age long ago he had been tasked to seal away. He hadn't gone into details beyond a few hushed whispers, but Leandra had still gotten the message. There were things in their world that defied all explanation.

So a magic mirror that acted as a doorway wasn't too far a stretch for the woman, not with what she'd seen and experienced for herself. That and marrying a mage, and raising a beautiful baby girl who had the gift of magic herself, tended to open one's mind to the seemingly impossible. Looking towards the small table, she was relieved to see the group's own sorceress was looking better than she had several hours earlier, far less pale and the bags under her pale blue eyes had started to fade at last. Bethany and Zatanna were talking quietly, although about what she couldn't tell. Not that it was any of her concern, because despite her brief association with them, she trusted these strangers a great deal already. Perhaps because they had risked so much for those they knew nothing about and had no reason to help at all, yet they had, and had paid the price for their good intentions. Whatever the reason, Leandra gently put a hand on Dinah's shoulder, getting the blonde's attention in the process.

When she started to open her mouth to apologize for some imagined slight, Leandra only shook her head and gave her a weak smile. "You're just as worried about your charges as I am about my children. Do not apologize for that Dinah. Maker willing, they'll beat the darkspawn here, and we can leave."

"Do you have a place you can go?" Dinah asked as she put her back to the wall, facing Leandra fully.

"We do. My family's estate is in Kirkwall, the Free Marches. We should be safe there." Leandra explained, earning her a nod from Dinah in response.

"Aren't there a lot of Templars there mother?" Bethany asked suddenly, getting everyone's attention in the process. "While I do like the idea of having an estate all to ourselves, I kinda like my freedom more." She quipped, a ghost of a smile tugging at her lips which Zatanna couldn't help but match.

"I know dear, but I don't know where else we can go where we might be safe. But your Uncle Gamlen, he'll help us, I know it." He had to, they were family.

Leandra missed the look that passed between Dinah and Zatanna, so was taken completely by surprise when Dinah asked her next question. "How long has it been since you've heard from him? Are you certain he'll help you?" It wasn't meant to be rude, but Dinah knew better than most how troublesome family could be, especially if one side had a tendency to hold a grudge over past slights, like her father for example. Pushing that thought to the side for now, Dinah focused on the matter at hand. She was just afraid they'd get to Kirkwall and run into unexpected trouble.

Leandra, sensing Dinah's concern, bit back the retort that had been on the tip of her tongue and thought on how best to answer the woman's question. After several moments, the older woman sighed and sat down in the nearest chair. "Perhaps you're right to worry. When I eloped with my husband all those years ago, my family didn't take it well. But I don't know where else we can go."

Offering a place on Earth was out of the question, as much as Zatanna wanted to. There was just too many variables to worry about, the least of which was the fact she wasn't even sure the Eluvian would allow them to take those from Thedas back with them. She had no evidence to support that idea either way, but false hope was worse than a lie, so she gave the Amells neither. But she did have an idea, but it'd require asking Jaime and Bart, possibly Thea as well, to see them safely to Kirkwall. But considering all Leandra and her family had done for them, it was the least they could do honestly. When she suggested as much, she, Bethany, and Dinah were surprised.

"That's actually not a bad idea, we'd just need to talk to them about it." Dinah said after she had given it some thought.

Leandra wasn't about to hear it though. "No, you've given enough for us, I couldn't possibly ask you for such a favor."

"You can and you will Leandra." Zatanna replied firmly and smiled warmly towards the older woman. "This is what we do, we help those we can, where we can. Making sure you and your family make it to Kirkwall is the least we can do after everything you've done for us. Letting us eat your food, sleep in your home, well, technically the barn, and giving us safe harbor? I wouldn't feel right about leaving you high and dry after everything you've done for us."

"She does have a point mother, and personally, I wouldn't mind a couple more blades between us and the darkspawn." Bethany stated, earning a tired sigh from Leandra.

Instead of fighting their decision to help them in some form or another, Leandra looked up and nodded her thanks before a grateful smile appeared on her face. "I don't know if the Maker himself sent you to us in this time of need, but you have my eternal gratitude and thanks for all you've done and tried to do since your arrival."

"You're welcome, but really it's us that owes you Leandra." Zatanna replied and stood to her feet, the need to stretch her legs suddenly very encompassing. She started to pace, all the while she talked. "After Ostagar….I honestly don't think we'd have made it half as far as we have if we didn't have somewhere to regroup. We've never been defeated so badly before, so to say it shook us up….then add on top of that losing one of our closest friends…." Trailing off completely, Zatanna could only look at her feet as her throat closed up and her eyes started to mist over. The events of that night had started to race through her thoughts, crippling her ability to express her gratitude, let alone much else.

"You don't have to tell me more Zatanna." Leandra said and nodded, understanding clear in her blue eyes as she reached out and put a gently restraining hand on the sorceress's arm before Dinah could move from her place against the wall or before Bethany could stand from the table. "Just know that whatever comes, you will always be welcome with my family." The words had the desired effect of banishing the battle, at least for the moment, from Zatanna's mind and a brief, beaming smile appeared on the raven haired woman's face.

"Not to interrupt this cheery moment folks," Bart declared, a smug grin on his face as all eyes fell on him, "but just thought I'd let ya know I'm back! Ta da!" He waved his arms over his head and grinned wider still, earning him a collection of quiet laughs and chuckles from the group around him. "Thank you, thank you, I'm here all week."

"Such a showman." Zatanna chuckled and all but glided over to the speedster before embracing him tightly. He comically waved his arms around in response, feigning an inability to draw breath, but the twinkle in his pale green eyes told another story.

Once they had explained their idea and asked what Bart thought of it, neither Dinah or Zatanna were surprised by his answer. "You kidding? Road trip! I am so in. 'Sides, gotta repay the good lady somehow right?"

"Well that was easy." Bethany chortled and smiled towards the cheerful speedster.

"Gotta warn ya though, might end up eating you outta house and home. High speed equals high metabolism, one of the few drawbacks of being this awesome." Bart declared cheerfully before plopping himself down next to Bethany, poking at his belly the whole time.

"He means he has to eat a lot more than your average person." Dinah explained when she noted Leandra and Bethany's confused expressions.

"Ah, you and Carver will get along great then." Bethany replied, a humorous gleam in her gaze as she playfully poked at Bart's belly herself. "He might not be fast, but he eats enough to put a horse to shame."

"We're growing boys, we can't help it." Bart chuckled before his grin disappeared in a flash. "Speaking of the guys though, anything on my hermano Jaime by chance BC?"

"Not yet, but he's only been gone a few hours." A thought occurred to Dinah and she turned her full attention on Bart just as he had zipped to a nearby cupboard and sat back down, apple in hand. "What took you so long anyway Impulse?"

"Meh, ran into some trouble on the way back, nothin' I couldn't handle. That and it took me a while to debrief the League before getting new orders, nothing big, but whoever's staying here is to help with this Blight, crash their mode big time." Bart replied nonchalantly before taking a huge bite from the apple he had pilfered. "So we're officially on the clock now BC."

"Alright. As soon as Jaime and the others get here, we'll put a plan together, hopefully we can slow these darkspawn down long enough to allow the people to get away." Dinah ran a hand across her forehead and pulled a few stray blonde locks out of her face before she continued. "In the meantime, if you're feeling up to it, we could start trying to make traps around the edge of Lothering."

"Just let me refuel and I'm all over that BC." Bart declared cheerfully while Zatanna only nodded. It might have been busy work, but simply standing around was going to drive them crazy. Besides, it certainly wouldn't hurt setting up some defensive measures around the village. Anything to slow down the darkspawn's advance was better than nothing.

 _ **End notes;**_ _Meh, I'm not entirely happy with the Leliana and M'gann scene, except for the use of The Dawn Will Come, that I love personally. Still, that and a few other minor things aside, I hope this was a good chapter for you guys and gals. And before anyone asks, I'll explain how Camdor knows so much about the Chantry and the laws of humans in a follow up chapter, but for now, just enjoy the ride. : D Seriously though, I have a plan, don't you worry. It'll start to pick up soon after we get out of Lothering, promise. Adios for now and may the Maker watch your path._


	13. Regrouping

**Chapter 13: Regrouping**

"I was asked for my opinion and I gave it! If you wish to come up with reasons why a thing can't be done, we'll be here until the darkspawn swallows us all." Morrigan snapped, and not for the first time, towards Alistair. It was a running theme with the two people that couldn't have been more disparate if they tried. Their arguments had gotten to the point Richard and Morwen wondered why they hadn't found a room already and worked off some of the obvious sexual tension between them. Neither one of them were quite daring enough to say that out loud however. Morrigan had already proven to be quite resourceful and clever, dangerously so in fact.

While it had been a concoction of her mother's design, according to the apostate, Morrigan had left a false scent trail for the darkspawn to sniff out instead of them as they left the Korcari Wilds after waking up, surprisingly alive and well. Richard had been certain they wouldn't have woken up at all after the darkspawn swarmed them in the Tower of Ishal, let alone wake up just as Morwen came around, looking just as confused as he had been at the time. Questions were soon answered, and it hadn't taken them long to form a plan, thanks in no small part to Duncan's foresight in acquiring the Grey Warden treaties that Alistair even then carried in his pack. Richard had let him keep the documents, both because he was the most heavily armored in the group, and because it was a physical reminder of Duncan for the ex-Templar, who hadn't taken the news well at all of their defeat at Ostagar. The feeling was mutual, but Richard had so far kept the worst of his turmoil at bay through sheer force of will.

It wouldn't last he knew as he, Morrigan, Morwen, Shadow, and Alistair stopped on a hill overlooking the refugee filled Lothering. The only easy way down to the village itself was a stone bridge of sorts that led away from Lothering in both the north and south before turning eastward off in the distance. His thoughts had been interrupted though when Alistair and Morrigan began another round of arguing, with Morwen growing noticeably more frustrated with every passing second as she tried to talk the two down.

Having finally had enough, Richard slapped the back of their heads, earning a bemused look from Alistair while Morrigan looked ready to turn him into a pile of ash. Completely unfazed by the witch's murderous yellow eyed glare, Richard crossed his arms and stared back for several tension filled seconds. "Look, I appreciate what you've done for us Morrigan, getting us out of the Wilds, patching us up with your slightly insane mother, but you need to lay off on antagonizing everyone."

Before she could protest, he had since turned to Alistair. "And you need to get your head out of your ass. Yes, I know we've been dealt a pretty bad hand, but whining about everything won't help. We have a plan, we know what we have to do if we want to stop this thing, but we won't get anywhere if we can't work together. She might be an apostate, but she also saved our lives. Ex-Templar or not, she's here to stay Alistair, and we need all the help we can get." Richard's harsh tone softened, as did his expression as he looked at them both equally now. "We need to learn to work together, or we're going to end up just as dead as everyone in that valley. And if you forgot, I lost a good friend down there too."

Morrigan merely scoffed and continued to march on with an air of arrogance around her, or in other words, as if nothing happened. Alistair on the other hand lowered his head shamefully, and nodded his agreement. "You're right. It's just… I don't know how to deal with loss." The ex-Templar admitted. "Duncan, he was like a father to me, and now…"

"I understand, believe me I understand." Nightwing said softly and put a hand on the other man's shoulder. "But you can't allow yourself to give up. You know what Duncan would expect of you, draw strength from that and from your memories of him." With that, Richard started forward, having said his peace. While his words had been meant more for Alistair than anyone, Morwen had also taken some comfort and strength from the young man that had so far lead them without complaint despite his own recent loss.

"We have suffered loss, but our resolve remains unbroken." Morwen said quietly to herself. She didn't know if it was meant to comfort the others or herself, but it reminded her that as long as the Blight raged on, there would be no peace for her or her companions.

"Yeah, I got that." Alistair replied and rubbed an armored hand down his face. "I don't know how you two do it, but I'm glad you're here, believe me. I doubt I'd have made it this far alone." Morwen only nodded and put a hand on the man's shoulder, briefly, before she moved on to catch up with Richard and their irate mage. "Though I wish we could just dump that witch in the next swamp." Alistair quietly muttered to himself, though not quite quietly enough when Morwen looked over her shoulder and chuckled softly.

"I do not blame you, but she did save our lives, in her own way. We owe her that much respect at least, even if she is callous and cold." Morwen stated in turn.

"Don't forget irritating." Alistair added with a small chuckle of his own. He chuckled a little louder when Shadow seemed to bark in agreement before bounding past him, and stopping at Morwen's side. "Heh, even the dog agrees with me."

"Tis not surprising since you both share a lack of intelligence." Morrigan said calmly, though her yellow eyes glinted mischievously. "At least you have some sense, even if you insist on helping every stray we come across." This she directed at Richard, who only shrugged at the reminder of the last group of people they had come across before they had arrived at Lothering. "Our time would be better suited elsewhere, but mother did say you were….not of this world, so your need to bend over for every poor soul between here and Denerim can be forgiven."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask, but just what is she?" Richard asked, remembering well the all too knowledgable comments she had made about him and those he traveled with. She knew way too much, especially for where she lived. A woman living alone in the middle of a swamp, powers or not, didn't strike Richard as someone that should know much of anything happening beyond her domain, yet she did, and it had been very, very strange in his opinion.

"I don't know." Morrigan admitted, though it was obvious that she disliked her lack of knowledge in that regard. "I only know that she is far older than she appears to be, and far more powerful."

"Well, that's not ominous at all." Alistair muttered from behind them.

"Would you prefer a lie to the truth?" Morrigan asked, annoyed, and glared at the ex-Templar.

"No, just stating the obvious." He replied and shrugged. Whatever else he'd been about to say died on his tongue when they came upon a simple blockade on the stone roadway they had been traversing. Two overturned wagons blocked the road, with only a narrow passageway right through the middle. It provided cover, but it also provided plenty of hiding places for men waiting to strike. "Does this seem like a trap to you?"

"It is." Richard stated and let his hand fall to the batarang holster on his belt. "Not a very good one though, too obviously placed."

"It has been used before." Morwen stated darkly and eyed some half-faded bloodstaines on the ground in disgust. "Likely highwaymen, preying upon the refugees fleeing the darkspawn. A clever ploy, I'll admit, but they are in our way." With that, their annoying ally grabbed her staff and held it before her, ready to start throwing spells at the slightest provocation.

"You're impressed by lowlife thugs? Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Alistair mused, slightly surprised by Morrigan's statement as he pulled his sword and hefted his shield, preparing to fight.

"You misunderstand, I am impressed that they were smart enough to think of something such as this, let alone that you would catch on." Morrigan retorted, her yellow eyes gleaming in amusement as Alistair sighed, having walked right into that one.

Morwen and Richard shared a look, wondering how they were going to survive the week with those two constantly bickering like an old married couple. They didn't get to wonder about it long though because as predicted, the highwaymen came out of their hiding places, carrying an assortment of crude but sharp swords and daggers, while one particularly large man wielded a heavy warhammer.

"You there! Stop." Their apparent leader shouted and grinned at them. "If you want to pass, you have to pay the fee."

Richard's estimations of the bandits' intelligence swiftly fell, deep. It should have been obvious to anyone that they were a heavily armed group that escaped Ostagar. If the darkspawn couldn't kill them, then what chance did these morons have. Even as the thought crossed his mind though, he could hear Bruce reprimanding his overconfidence since no enemy should ever be underestimated, no matter their skill or lack thereof. That didn't stop him from wondering how these guys had survived for so long though.

"And if we refuse?" Morwen asked softly, though her words were laced with an underlying threat.

"Then we'll kill you and take the stuff from your corpses." The tall man with the hammer said dumbly, making it obvious that he wasn't the brains of the group.

"Sorry to say but my friend's right. Refuse and we'll have to ransack your dead bodies. Personally I'd rather avoid the messy bits though, wouldn't you?" The leader asked, and smirked confidently as his group took combat ready stances.

Morwen pulled out her weapons and gripped their hilts tightly in obvious anger. "You have no idea who you're up against. I offer you this choice, surrender now or die by our hands." Ignoring the uncomfortable look on Richard's face, Morwen stepped forward, sword pointed at the leader's chest. "Last chance. But be aware we are Grey Wardens."

That was the last thing she should have said as the leader's face lit up with interest. "Really? Teyrn Loghain's put quite a large bounty on your heads. Says the Wardens killed the king."

"What?" Morwen asked as her eyes widened in shock for a moment before they narrowed in righteous fury. It seemed Bart's warning, when he had found them just yesterday afternoon and told them the bad news about Richard's old friend, had come to pass after all. "You will tell me everything." She promised darkly.

"We'll see about that." The leader said arrogantly and nodded towards his men. "Get them boys." No sooner had he looked back, prepared to charge, did the leader find out the hard way when he tripped over his own feet. Looking down, he saw some kind of gray metallic rope had appeared around his lower legs. If not for Richard's batarang, he would have ended up as dead as his fellows, as he soon found out.

Richard had qualms about killing them, even though his opponents didn't even hesitate in their attempts to kill him. The very idea sickened him since these were people, not mindless monsters. Though the same could not be said about his companions. Morrigan froze one bandit solid before shattering him with another spell. Alistair drove his blade through the stomach of another before shield bashing a third, cracking him across the face hard enough to snap his neck. Morwen on the other hand attacked them with the force of a hurricane, every stroke was either lethal or dealt some gruesome injury, in the case of the latter a second strike would end their lives mercifully.

The fight lasted for less than a minute, and the once so arrogant leader was now facing down the combined wrath of the people he had just tried to kill. "Wait, there's no need for that! I surrender! Honest! You can even have all the stuff we stole...err liberated!"

"You will tell me why Loghain wants our heads." Morwen ordered, her sword still drawn and dripping with the blood of his fellows.

"Sure, of course." The man stammered out weakly. "He claims that the Grey Wardens have killed the King in an attempt to seize power but died as well. Thus he wants to punish all Grey Wardens."

"Did you see any of his men?" Morwen pressed on, her eyes alight with disgust for the man in front of her and for the lies Loghain spread.

"Yeah, a few soldiers arrived earlier today! We let them past, they were too well equipped for my liking." The bandit whimpered. Nightwing raised an eyebrow, so the man thought it was smart to attack a group of Grey Wardens but the moment he saw some soldiers he decided to give up? Richard couldn't follow that logic in the slightest.

"Please, I told you everything I know. Can I go now?" The man begged and looked up at Morwen's shadowed face.

"You chose poorly." Morwen growled as she raised her foot and brought it down on the man's neck before Richard could stop her. The sickening crunch of bone was loud, like a tree branch being smashed under a wagon's wheel. Before Richard could reprimand her, harshly, for snuffing out the bandit's life, she pointed her finger to a nearby pile of items the now dead men had stolen. Following her gaze, Richard's gaze fell upon a ragged homemade doll. "They were the lowest of the low in my eyes. It's bad enough they preyed upon those unable to defend themselves, they had the gall to harm a child as well in their greed. For that alone, their ends would have been the same had this happened while Highever still belonged to my family."

"Fine, but where I come from, we don't execute our captives."

"We're not _in_ your world. Mercy is a weakness here, one your enemies _will_ take advantage of." Morwen hissed, eyes ablaze with fury, her forehead creased with deep wrinkles that made her seem older, almost feral really. "How many more have to fall victim to the hands of someone before you stop them?"

"It's still wrong." Dick said stubbornly and glared back at the hooded woman. "I've fought countless people, and not once have I had to resort to ending their lives."

"Tell that to the families of those they have slaughtered. Tell me, if you had killed just one of your enemies in your homeland, how many innocents could have been saved?" Morwen argued angrily.

"Funny thing about ending one enemy, another tends to pop up to take their place. While it might be easier, it doesn't help in the long run. Besides that, stooping to their methods only ends one way." Richard could count the number of people who had gone too far and had ended up becoming just like those they had destroyed on both hands. Despite his deeply held beliefs and convictions, he understood what Morwen was trying to tell him, he really did, but it didn't make it right.

Morwen bit her tongue to stop her next words. _You lack the will to act and thus you are responsible for their deaths!_ That was what she wanted to scream at him with all her anger. Instead she took a calming breath, and decided to change tactics. "And how do soldiers act in your world? Don't they kill anyone either?"

"They do, but we're not soldiers." Nightwing replied, giving Alistair and Morrigan a sidelong glance as they started to loot the bodies of the dead bandits. He didn't stop them, but he wanted to since they had already had that conversation. As much as he hated to admit it, they needed every coin they could get their hands on. Instead he focused on Morwen, continuing the argument. "We hold ourselves to a higher standard. There's always another way in nearly every situation." By 'we', Richard meant himself and his friends among the team.

A clarification Morwen didn't need explained, but that didn't stop her from pointing out the flaw in Richard's logic, at least in her opinion. "Wrong. Perhaps you are not a soldier back home, but right now we are at war. We fight against the Blight and all the chaos it brings with it. I fear before this is over I will have damned my soul several times over." Morwen said more calmly than before though the underlying anger was still clearly audible. "But if it means saving as many innocents as I can, then what does it matter if I rot in oblivion for what I have done?"

"Against the darkspawn….I can agree with that, but against people? That I will never be alright with." Richard replied softly, nodding his head in agreement and acceptance of Morwen's statement, at least to a degree. A degree he had already laid out for her plain as day.

To his slight surprise, Morwen looked away and let a sorrow filled gleam filter into her blue eyes just long enough for her to say her piece. "Then I hope for your sake that Loghain sees reason soon. I know you don't agree with my methods, but make no mistake. I don't enjoy it either."

"Then let's end this quickly, for both our and everyone else's sakes." He replied softly, and hesitantly started to reach out only to pull his hand back when Morwen started down the road with Shadow at her side.

"Agreed." She said simply and took another calming breath before stopping a few feet away from the others. Her previously angry visage turned emotionless as she looked at Richard neutrally. "Suggestions?"

Nightwing took note of the change with concern since it wasn't the first time he had observed her acting like this. Since she heard that Loghain, had abandoned them Morwen had become… colder for the lack of a better term. She rarely spoke anymore, and if she did, it was usually only to talk about their mission. He knew that at first she had thought that perhaps the Teyrn had no other choice but to retreat, but after hearing from Bart and what he had been told had really occurred, the doubts had begun to nag at her. She had told him that no one would be mad enough to betray their king during a Blight when he had suggested such, and it seemed like she was mistaken. And underneath all that anger and coldness he could see something else though he was not sure what it was. He could make an educated guess though, having been around long enough and experienced more than any his age should have ever endured.

Survivor's guilt, the thought that if she had been faster, could have done things differently, that there might have been a better outcome. He was right there with her, but the facts helped him deal with his own since they told him Loghain had known exactly what he was doing at the time. He was the real villain here, the worst kind really since he hadn't just betrayed the King and the Wardens, he had betrayed the entire country with his decision to quit the field with his men, and he'd pay for his crimes if Richard had his say. But that was neither here nor there, they first had to succeed in fulfilling Duncan's last wish and gather an army to stop the Blight.

Shaking himself out of his musings he decided to answer Morwen's question. "I think we should see what news we hear once we're in Lothering, then we can decide where to go first. But if I know my friends, they've likely done most of the work for us by now." It was just how they were. Dinah would make sure they didn't sit around on their hands, although she wouldn't have had to prod them into action.

"Then we need to find them first, and avoid any of Loghain's soldiers. Hopefully his lies failed to convince the locals and the Chantry. I don't want to be chased across the country by everyone who knows how to hold a weapon." A look over her shoulder towards Morrigan said more than he needed to hear.

He nodded, although it wasn't just her he was worried about, especially if they were wanted criminals now. That was going to take some getting used to. He usually hunted down criminals, not being considered one. A wry smirk pulled at his lips at the very idea that his face was likely plastered on wanted posters by now, right alongside Morwen's. He wondered who of their little team was considered the most 'valuable'. He'd have to make a betting pool once they got together, just to see who won. It'd give them something to laugh about if nothing else, something they'd need if they wanted to get anywhere with what had occurred.

Pushing those thoughts to the side, Richard looked over to Alistair and Morrigan, wondering what they thought about all this. Alistair had been understandably surprised by the revelation they had come through a magic mirror, but he had accepted it readily enough given what he'd seen at the Tower. Richard hadn't exactly hidden his gadgetry during the battle, using his explosive and rope batarangs with impunity.

He was glad that he had though, otherwise this whole fiasco would have been even more unpleasant as it was to begin with. He immediately beat those thoughts back before they could wander down a darker path, knowing better than to get stuck in the trap of what ifs and probabilities. The past was done, all they could do was move forward. That didn't make it easy to keep completely focused on the task at hand though.

"We should go to the Chantry first. Most of the people passing through would be there. Your friends too probably, if they aren't there then perhaps they have found refuge with Lady Amell." Morwen stated, and Richard simply nodded in response. It was a good a plan as any in his mind, but not everyone shared his opinion.

"Oh good, we get to see this spit of a village's local religious center for the indoctrinated fools and their Templars. Let's see if we can't paint a target on our backs while we're at it." Morrigan stated disdainfully, making it clear she liked this idea about as much as being stuck with Alistair.

"Unnecessary in our case, but you're free to do so if you wish." Morwen shot back without missing a beat. That shut the mage up as she opened her mouth only to clamp her lips closed just as quickly.

When a slight grin appeared on the woman's face, Morwen wondered what new scathing remark was about to pour from her lips. She was pleasantly surprised by what Morrigan had to say. "Quite a clever retort, I'll admit. Perhaps there is hope for you yet."

"Why thank you, Morrigan. I think you aren't so bad yourself."

"Are they bonding? Please tell me they aren't bonding." Alistair moaned pitifully, and turned towards Richard. "If those two team up, we're done for, we have to do something."

"I don't know, I think I like the idea of them getting along, makes our lives quieter."

"You are _so_ not helping." Alistair retorted, unable to help the smile on his face.

"I do my best." Richard chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest, smirking towards his heavily armored counterpart. "Besides, they can hear every word you say. _Might_ want to remember that."

"Uh oh." Alistair said weakly and shot a glance at the two women, both apparently ignoring him. He didn't buy it for a second. "I just remembered Morrigan mentioning she knows how to make poisons, and you asked her to cook for us. Smart idea that."

"Well, if she does decide to give us a surprise during dinner one night, I'll be the first to admit my mistake. Until then, have a little faith she finds us useful enough not to." Richard replied and patted Alistair on the shoulder playfully. "Besides, after the stuff you made last night, I think I'd welcome some poison."

"Hey! I'll have you know my stew wasn't that bad!" Alistair exclaimed indignantly.

"Tell that to my bowels." Nightwing replied, if he was being honest then Alistair's cooking skills were even worse then he implied. There should have been a law against the food Alistair had made. Even calling it that was being kind. "But I'm certain you have other virtues."

"Gee thanks." Alistair chuckled dryly. "Speaking of though, what about you? Do you know how to cook, or should I run for the hills now?"

"Guess you'll have to wait and find out. I like the suspense, don't you?" He could cook, but he hadn't had to since Artemis or one of the others normally did that when they were out in the wilds longer than a few hours during some mission or another. They did a better job than he did, but he wasn't about to tell Alistair that, although it would have been a vast improvement over the man's...attempt.

"When it comes to my stomach, not really. And you didn't answer the question."

"I know." Richard replied smugly and grinned at Alistair over his shoulder.

The fledgling cheer that had started to fill the air around them disappeared when the group finally arrived at the entrance of Lothering. Everywhere they looked were refugees, people who had lost everything, and they all looked exhausted, starved, and on the brink of desperation. Richard recognized it all too readily, having seen Queen Bee's totalitarian regime up close more than once during his time as Batman's protege and on his own. While there were noticeable differences, the same principles applied. People running with everything they could carry, family members huddling together in fear of being caught by their pursuers or of those running with them in some cases.

He sighed sadly because he hated seeing people like this, and it was one of the reasons why he did what he did. No matter how bad things got, in the end, seeing the hope in the eyes of his fellow humans and friends was more than worth it. Looking up, he saw Morwen glancing his way, and despite her deepening cold demeanor, he was reassured to note she didn't seem to enjoy what she saw around her.

"Help! Please, help." The words were spoken by an elf who looked like he had gotten beaten up recently. Next to him stood an elven woman and her child, a family if he had to guess. "I beg you, help my family. The bandits, they took everything."

Without another word, Morwen walked up to the family, though they drew slightly back at her approach. She looked at them for a moment before she focused her attention on the man. "I'm afraid I don't have much myself, but would thirty silver and something to eat suffice? As for the bandits, they've been dealt with, I assure you."

"Thirty silver and the chance to reclaim what is ours? I don't know how to thank you my lady." The elf stammered out, surprised by the kindness that was shown him and his family.

"Please, I am no lady." Morwen thought and couldn't help it but think bitterly. _Not anymore._ Instead she forced herself to smile and nod. "There is no reason to thank us. We're merely doing what we can to help."

"Which is more than most." The elf said a little bitterly, but still smiled at her in utter gratitude. If she was being honest with herself, then she was disturbed by that. How had the man and his family been threatened if this little act of kindness caused such gratitude? The fact he was an elf probably had something to do with it, but Morwen didn't think that was the only thing, and had her answer when her eyes fell on the child's neck. The small bandage along the little girl's neck answered her question, and a quick glance at Richard's hardening visage said he'd come to the same conclusion.

Before she could respond to this revelation, Richard beat her to it and knelt down on one knee in front of the girl. He smiled and held up his hands when she took a step away from him. "Hey, it's alright. I think I have something of yours." He said and more to her surprise, pulled out the handmade doll she had pointed out to him after they had taken down the highwaymen. She briefly wondered where he'd been keeping the thing since she doubted his belt pouches were big enough for the toy. "I had hoped to find the one this belongs to, and it seems I'm in luck."

The child's eyes lit up in joy as she saw her doll but she stopped herself from grasping it, instead she looked at her father to see if it was okay for her to take the doll. Such matters could easily become complicated once humans were involved, something Richard had started to notice from what he had seen and heard for himself. So he was relieved when the parents pushed her forward ever so slightly and smiled at his generous act. "Thank you!" The girl cried out when she took the toy back and hugged it close to her chest.

"You're welcome. Don't lose it again you hear kiddo?" The girl nodded her head vigorously, reassuring him her recent trauma had hardly affected her. Children were resilient though, something else he knew all too well from personal experience. Standing to his feet, he regarded the pair of elves for a moment before speaking further. "I'd leave as soon as you regain what you've lost. This village won't be safe for much longer."

"We will, and thank you again ser. You've given us back more than you might realize."

Morwen looked sadly upon the departing elves. She had heard stories that many humans treated them like second class citizens at best and animals at worst, but to actually see it was another matter entirely. _Something like this never happened in the Alienage of Highever! Or perhaps it did and I was merely too blind to see it. A lot of things have changed since… then._ She thought to herself, because as far as she had been aware, the elves of Highever had been treated as equals, but now she wasn't so sure anymore. Another wave of anger hit her as she thought about the injustice the elves had to endure. She wanted to change that, no one should be treated like that, and yet she didn't know how to change a whole society.

"You start with the small things." Richard stated, as if he had read her mind. At her surprised look, her blue eyes wide as she turned to face him, Nightwing continued as the Chantry finally came into sight. "Start small, and work your way from there. Only by making change in degrees can the whole be altered as you desire. Working within the system is the only right way to do things, even though I guess I probably sound hypocritical to a degree, given what I've done back home. Taking the law into our own hands _does_ tend to draw unwanted attention from some." It had been brought up, briefly, the other night, but they hadn't talked about it at length what it meant to be a hero like he and his close friends.

Still, Morwen nodded her thanks for his words as they stopped just shy of the Chantry doors. "I can imagine, but thank you for your advice. I will do my best to follow it."

"Should you ever falter, remember, 'even the smallest person can change the course of the future'. Sometimes it's not enough on its own depending on the circumstances, but even a small spark can cause change eventually." Morwen nodded again and smiled, briefly, for what he'd said to her. It wasn't much, but it was certainly something to ponder, but it was pushed to the side at that moment as Richard pushed his way through the doors once the Templars had stepped aside.

The inside of the Chantry was almost as bad as the outside, the refugees here were almost as fearful and desperate as those outside. Even so, there was a noticeable difference, as if these people had a measure of hope those outside had forgotten. Whatever else Richard and Morwen might have noted about the Chantry was pushed to the side when Alistair gave a quiet gasp and ran ahead of them. It didn't take them long to figure out why when he ran up to a man in armor, bearing a shield on his back with Redcliffe's heraldry emblazoned proudly upon it.

He didn't get to ask about the man when he was embraced tightly by an all too familiar redhead. "Richard! Thank the stars you're alive!" M'g-Megan exclaimed, her brown eyes misting over as tears of joy formed.

Richard didn't mind the martian's tight embrace as he returned it as best he could. "Need to breathe...sometime soon Megan." He wheezed, and took in a deep lungful of air the moment she let go with an hastily spoken apology. He shook his head and smiled, just as happy to see her again as she was to see him.

"Megan, it is good to see you unharmed." Morwen said, uncertain if she should hug the other woman or not. Though she made sure not to mention Conner, she had seen how the two of them had acted around each other, and she didn't want to remind the redhead of her lost loved one. If she suffered like she did, then it would only hurt her more, since she would be unable to forget about him on her own, and every mention of him would only serve to deepen the pain.

"Thank you. Bart said you'd be here soon, but I was afraid you wouldn't make it." Megan replied and shivered minutely before a small smile tugged at her lips.

"A valid fear, considering our enemy, but you needn't worry further." Morwen reassured her before noticing another woman had approached, unheard. That got Morwen attention since few people could walk so softly and not be noticed by her. She berated herself internally, it was sloppy of her not to sense the woman's approach. If she had been an enemy, she would have had the opportunity to kill her. She swore to herself to be more vigilant in the future, if not for her own sake, then her new companions. While the redhead wore the clothes of the Chantry, alarm bells still rang in Morwen's mind since something about this petite woman didn't seem….true, for lack of a better word. The way she walked indicated training, and a readiness for battle that was seldomly found in anyone, especially among the Chantry sisters.

Richard had come to the same observations about the stranger, but his concerns went deeper since the human woman had been hovering around Megan. He was very protective of his friends, and if this stranger had something unpleasant in store, using Megan's emotional fragility as a means to get into their group, she'd pay dearly for anything that might hurt them further. He quickly berated himself for being so paranoid, even if it was a possibility. He'd just have to observe and see where she stood.

"Excuse me, can we help you?" Morwen asked the Chantry sister pleasantly, though it was only a mask she put on. She had been educated in politics and the schemes they brought with them, she knew how to get a reaction out of people if she wanted to.

"Greetings, and I hope that you can. You are Grey Wardens, no?" The redhead questioned with a wide smile of her own. Morwen suppressed the urge to narrow her eyes since the sister's smile was a mask as well, and the way her eyes studied her own face made it clear that the sister had seen through her. She obviously knew something about politics and schemes that coupled with her probable fighting skills, and the Orlesian accent led Morwen to the conclusion that she was dealing with a bard, or at least a former one at that. She had heard stories of such people, and knew they were dangerous in a way that made assassins seem like amateurs. Bards could manipulate people with such ease, their voices as talented as their combat abilities in most cases, or so the stories had said at any rate. If this woman was a bard, they were in for a world of hurt if she really was working to bring them down. The way Megan's gaze kept drifting towards her said she already had gained her trust.

 _Well there is a time for subtlety, and this isn't one of those times._ Morwen thought before her smile returned, though this time it was more predatory than friendly. "What did you do to gain her trust, bard?" She asked the sister in fluent Orlesian. Her parents had insisted that she needed to learn it, a fact that she was grateful of at the moment because the Chantry sister seemed genuinely surprised for all of two seconds, but it was enough.

"You are full of surprises, but I am no bard. I never was." The girl said, though Morwen saw that she was testing her.

Unbeknownst to either woman, Richard had since signaled M'gann to psychically translate for him and herself, and had to put a hand over her mouth to stop her from interrupting. They needed to hear this, for more than the obvious reason that he didn't trust the woman. M'gann was normally a good judge of character given her powers, and her own experiences had taught her not to trust too easily, but that was when she wasn't in such distress. She'd been fooled before during a time of uncertainty, and as much as he wanted to believe her when she said Leliana was trustworthy, he needed to be sure.

"Lie to me again, and I will have no other choice but to assume that you are here to kill us. Believe me, you don't want that." Morwen said with an sudden aggressiveness, pleased to see that her little act had caught the woman off guard. Even though her reaction was miniscule, it was still there. "Now, let's try this again. What is your purpose, bard? And what did you do to Megan?"

"My name is Leliana. And I did nothing more than to offer some comfort to your friend. As for my purpose, I want to accompany you in your journey to stop the Blight." She answered coolly, apparently accepting that there was no fooling her.

Morwen narrowed her eyes at the woman, and studied every little detail of her body language. She even replayed the woman's words in her mind, to see if her voice would reveal a lie. In the end, she had to admit that even under her scrutinizing glare, the woman seemed honest. She was hiding something, that was certain, but Morwen had to grudgingly admit that Leliana might not be there to harm them. She sighed and relaxed, slightly, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Forgive my rudeness and suspicion, but we've been through too much lately to trust easily anymore."

If Leliana had been offended, she hid it well as she nodded and let a sliver of a smile appear on her face. "It is fine, and perfectly understandable. You have indeed gone through much, so I cannot blame you for being suspicious." Switching to the common tongue, although she didn't know it wasn't needed, Leliana addressed the group at large. "My part in this is unknown, even with what the Maker has shown me, but when I saw such pain and anguish in one so young, my heart went out to her, and I couldn't ignore it."

"I understand." Morwen said, her eyes almost literally glowing, her hand wrapped around the hilt of her sword. The underlying message clear. _I believe you for now. Betray us and suffer the consequences._

"Excuse me, did you say 'the Maker has shown you'?" Nightwing asked Leliana, though he tried to sound open minded. Shadow cocked his head to the side and whined, seemingly just as confused as Richard felt about the woman's words.

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's true! I had a dream, a vision! He told me to help you." Leliana told him pleadingly.

"I see." Richard said slowly and turned towards his companions.

Megan was the first to answer him. "I know it sounds...outlandish, but I believe it. The priests and priestesses of my own people have had visions before, and while precognition is rare, most of their visions have come true." Given their advanced telepathic abilities, there could very well be truth to the martian's words. Richard wasn't so quick to believe it, but he was willing to hear her out if nothing else.

"I think it is a fool notion to entertain. What good does a Chantry sister have to offer us?" Morrigan asked deprecatingly, having remained silent long enough.

Morwen chuckled softly in reply. "I think she should come with us, after all, she has just proven how skilled she is."

Morrigan narrowed her eyes at the hooded woman, and looked from her to Leliana and back in the hopes of finding an answer to her unspoken question.

"You are powerful, Morrigan, and you know a lot about the wilds, but there are a lot of things you have yet to learn, let alone truly understand." Morwen offered as a way of explanation. "Believe me when I say there is more than meets the eye to this woman."

"Just as there is more than meets the eye to the girl Richard is fawning over?" Morrigan snapped back in retort, albeit softly so as not to alert the wrong person to their conversation. "I noticed a slight tingling in the back of my mind, putting truth to the rumor she is gifted with unique abilities."

"I wonder who told you such rumor in the wilds?" Morwen asked with a dark chuckle. "I suppose it was your mother, she knew a lot about Richard. I wouldn't be surprised if she somehow obtained knowledge about his friends as well."

"It would not surprise me either." Morrigan replied softly, saying more than she actually had. It was becoming painfully obvious Flemeth didn't even trust her own daughter with everything she likely knew about what was happening around them.

Ignoring the mysteries that surrounded Flemeth, Richard turned towards Leliana again. "What about the rest of our friends, are they here as well?" He asked both her and Megan.

"They are, though they try to avoid the public since Loghain's men came. Despite this, they have still done a lot of good from the shadows, helping those that need it in some small way or another." Leliana replied, confirming what Richard had already suspected. "Your friends are staying with a Lady Amell."

"Where are the soldiers?" Morwen growled out since it seemed like Loghain had wasted no time in sending his men across the country in search of the last of his supposed enemies apparently. Truly, the Teyrn was no fool, if he played his cards right, they would have the entire country hunting for them. Unfortunately for Loghain, neither she nor her companions were fools.

"They stay in the local tavern, and cause their fair share of trouble for the owner and patrons." Leliana answered hesitantly. "What are you going to do?"

Morwen looked towards Richard before turning back to regard the woman in front of her. "Good question. We should either avoid or destroy them, to prevent Loghain from hearing about our whereabouts. Though I wouldn't be surprised if he would learn of them regardless. If the bounty on our heads is high enough, then a lot of people will be willing to rat us out."

"Yeah, not so sure I like being the criminal, but as much as I hate to agree with you on this Morwen, we might not have a choice but to take care of the problem now before we run for the hills." Even saying that much made Richard sick to his stomach, but he knew deep down, Morwen was right. They were not on Earth anymore, the rules were different here, and they'd have to adapt or die trying. And he didn't wish to kick the bucket, not anytime soon at least.

"Perhaps there is another way." Morwen proposed quietly, surprising Richard as she let her words sink in before she continued. "We engage them, but don't kill them, let them carry a message back to their master. This way we get rid of them and perhaps even manage to fool Loghain that more of us survived then actually did.

"Huh, that's actually pretty clever. Deception, theatricality, sounds like my kind of ploy."

"It does have that Nightwing flair." Megan mused and managed a small smile as she nodded in agreement.

"I approve, although it might not be so simple as you believe." Leliana chimed in.

"Ugh, you are going to get us all killed yet." Morrigan groaned but made no further protests.

"If it comes to that, you're free to tell me 'I told you so'." Morwen told the witch calmly and turned back to the Chantry doors. "Alistair, join us once you are finished here. We'll be taking care of some business."

"Right, I'll catch up shortly." He promised.

Once they were outside again, Megan and Leliana led the way to the nearby tavern, all the while Richard kept close to the pair with Morwen and Shadow bringing up the rear. "So what have the others been doing this whole time Megan?" Richard asked, curious as to what had been going on since Bart's last update.

"What little we can to get the villagers out of here as fast as possible. Jaime and Bart have been laying traps all over the village perimeter. Artemis and the rest have been trying to help evacuate everyone they can, while avoiding Loghain's men."

"No easy trick I imagine." Morwen mused aloud, to which Megan shook her head.

"No, but it's what we're good at." The martian retorted with a miniscule smile. "I'm just worried about supplies, I fear that we don't have enough food for everyone once they have left their homes."

"We have done what we can Megan, the Maker will provide or he won't for those that have left already." Leliana replied softly.

"That's not good enough for me. Leaving it to chance, not if we can do more." Megan retorted, a little harsher than she had intended, and immediately looked down at her feet even as she continued forward without breaking her stride.

"You did an admirable job, but I fear with the situation at hand, there is nothing else we can do. Save for giving those poor souls some comfort." Leliana told her emphatically, taking no offense from the young woman's harshly spoken words.

"She's right, Megan." Richard said, and ignored the slightly surprised look on the martian's face when she snapped her head to look at him over her shoulder. "Our best sometimes isn't enough, but it's certainly better than doing nothing. You and the rest have done a lot in the short time you've been here, and under the nose of Loghain's goons. It'll have to be enough because we're running out of time."

"He's right, soon the horde will show up and destroy everything in its path." Morwen said quietly. "Your actions have given these people hope and time, let's hope that that will prove to be enough." Megan's surprise gave way to resignation, but she nodded reluctantly in agreement. Morwen knew it wasn't enough for the girl, but that was just how these strangers were. They didn't take defeat well, not well at all. She had seen that in Richard alone, even though he tried to hide it behind a well schooled mask. The eyes however couldn't lie, and Morwen had seen all she needed in Richard's pale blue orbs.

An all too familiar pain shone through their eyes. Perhaps it was that which connected them with each other. Morwen was certain that Richard knew the pain she was going through, and that made him seem more approachable to her. Whatever the case, she couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the strangers, and not for the first time, to have made them so capable together.

Whatever else she might have considered was driven from her thoughts however when they stopped before the tavern's door, just as someone was tossed out head over heels. Her lips quirked in amusement for a split second as the man tried to get up slowly. His armor made it clear that this was one of Loghain's men. Richard walked past him, and in a motion that seemed utterly coincidental, kicked him in the face hard enough to render the man unconscious. "Whoops. I really didn't mean to." Nightwing deadpanned.

Megan merely shook her head at him chidingly while Leliana suppressed a giggle. "You are horrible." The martian told him though her words lacked any malice.

"Hmm, seems like someone already started without us. Come on, it is impolite to let them wait." Morwen told them with flashing eyes and threw open the tavern's door. No sooner had the words left her mouth did they discover who was behind the man's impromptu flight.

"'Bout time you got here Bird Boy!" Artemis shouted as she backflipped back, her left boot clipping the last of Loghain's men under his chin, forcing him stumbling back. With a grunt of effort, she grabbed him by the arm when she regained her feet and bodily threw him over her shoulder, and into the back wall where he lay forgotten behind the bar. "Looks like our cover's finally blown."

"It must have been your winning personality." Alexandria mused from a nearby corner, her staff held aloft. The unconscious goon at her feet said quite a bit, as did the giant bump on the man's forehead.

"He grabbed my ass Alex." Artemis growled and crossed her arms over her chest.

"And you broke his arm, and his jaw, and then you continued with beating up his buddies." Alex countered calmly. "Not only that but you put one of them through a table. Look at all the drinks you have ruined, and the table was nice too."

"Yeah, damn shame, now can we focus on these guys?" Artemis snapped back impatiently before jerking her head towards Richard and his group. "And you! You took your sweet ass time getting here."

"Good to see you too Arty." Richard replied, unoffended in the slightest by his old friend's temperament. It was, in a way, reassuring to see her so worked up.

"Still as impatient as ever I see Artemis." Leliana chuckled, earning an annoyed huff from the fiery blonde.

"So not in the mood right now Leli." Artemis retorted and kicked the closest of Loghain's goons in the side when he started to get to his feet. "I don't take kindly to being grabbed like a common bar wench."

"And you wanted to beat them up anyway." Alex chimed in with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, that too, but that's not important." Artemis growled before she forced herself to take a calming breath. "They had it coming anyway, harassing everyone just to get to us. Tellin' everyone we killed the King, what could we have possibly have gained from that?"

"That depends, if Loghain claims that you are Grey Wardens, then he will claim it was for power. Otherwise he will probably claim that you are Orlesian assassins who killed him out of spite, or something like that." Morwen said with a slight shrug. "But to be honest, I have no idea what that man is thinking."

"Well it doesn't matter right now." Richard said as he dragged the only man that was still conscious to his feet and slammed him into the wall by the door, his face transforming into a hard, stony glare that would have made most people wet their britches. It was a patented glare Batman had perfected over years of fighting crime, and Richard had his own variation of it. Even without his simple black mask that covered most of his face, the young man's hard visage and the way his eyes narrowed into slits was very intimidating. It seemed to be working as Loghain's man trembled in his iron grasp. "I'm only going to say this once. Tell Loghain he won't be getting away with what he did at Ostagar. Now get your men together and get out of Lothering before I let my friend have her fun." He had no intention of letting Morwen loose on Loghain's men, but his captive didn't know that.

Morwen made it a point to idly toss her dagger into the air and catch it deftly by the hilt when the captured soldier looked her way. "And tell your master that the Grey Wardens have laid claim to his life. We won't forget, we will not forgive, and he will pay for his betrayal of more than King Cailan. Every man and woman the darkspawn have slaughtered because of his retreat will be avenged." Morwen hissed between clenched teeth. Needless to say, when Richard dropped the man to the ground, he was out of the tavern right ahead of his fellows as if the very hounds of Hell were on their tail.

Even Morrigan seemed mildly impressed by how quickly the men had fled after being so easily decimated by Alexandria and Artemis. She said nothing aloud, but her yellow eyes gleamed intensely in approval at what she had witnessed for herself. "I must admit, while foolish to leave them alive, tis most impressive how quickly they ran with their tails between their legs. I did not expect such intimidation from you Grayson, who flinches at the mere idea of spilling another man's blood."

"And who's your new friend _exactly_?" Artemis asked, her voice layered with disdain as she met the witch's glare with one of her own.

The witch scowled, her face contorting into a mask of barely contained disgust and anger. "Do not speak of me as if I am not even present, girl. My name is Morrigan."

"And I thought we were full up on snark already." Artemis sarcastically retorted without missing a beat. Richard could only sigh, realizing too late that having Artemis and Morrigan in the same place might be worse than her and Alistair. There was nothing for it now though.

"Settle down you two, we have different priorities." Morwen told them sharply, efficiently silencing both women. "Where to go first for an example."

"Fine, let's regroup. The rest of the gang should be at Leandra's." Artemis said and pushed past Morrigan on her way out the door.

"This is going to be a long trip." Morwen mused, while Richard only shrugged although he wholeheartedly agreed with her.

"Oh yeah. It's definitely going to be interesting though." Leliana giggled, unable to suppress it this time when Richard opened his mouth again.

"No journey worth taking is ever dull, or without excitement." The woman chimed in, her eyes alight with barely contained glee. "If we're going to be leaving soon, then I shall collect my things from the Chantry. It shouldn't take me long."

Richard said nothing as he watched Leliana leave, and kept an eye on where Megan's gaze wandered. He was slightly relieved to note she didn't seem quite as starstruck as she'd been before, the earlier conversation between Morwen and the accused bard having given the martian the hint Leliana was not all she appeared. She'd be at the very least cautious now, even if her intentions had been as pure as she'd made them out to be.

"Meet us at Leandra Amell's farm, and bring Alistair with you. We have much to do and little time." Morwen ordered and turned to follow Artemis and Alex.

"Should we tell him about the qunari now or later?" Artemis whispered to Alex as they took up the rear position in their little group.

"Later, definitely later." The mage whispered back, earning a mischievous grin from the archer at her side. "I want to see the look on his face. Ten silver says he gets startled by our giant friend."

"You're on." Artemis retorted, grinning from ear to ear.

 **Author notes:** _ **Nomad-117:**_ _So, they finally arrived in Lothering and heard the news that Loghain wants their heads. But where will they go from here? Can you guess? Regardless of that, I want to thank you all for your continued support in this story, and I hope to read a lot of new reviews for this chapter._

 _ **Vergil1989:**_ _Before anyone says a word about Morwen spotting a bard so easily in our favorite redhead, remember she's nobility. The Couslands likely had quite a few friends and the like across the land. Morwen's brother, Fergus, his wife was from Antiva for those that know DA as we do, so it makes sense they'd have known people who come from Orlais, among other places across Thedas. And no, we haven't forgotten about Fergus, but Morwen's purposely trying not to think about him, and the rest of her family, as you can imagine. For all she knows he's dead too by now._

_Anyway, sorry, just wanted to rant a bit. I agree with Nomad though, we do greatly appreciate everything you guys and gals have left us thus far, and we hope we continue to deserve your continued support. See ya folks and may the Maker watch your paths. : D_


	14. Fade to Black

**Opening Notes;** _This is where the rating goes to M. It probably should have been changed before, but I figured it'd be appropriate to do so now. You'll see why soon enough. : D_

**Chapter 14: Fade to Black**

After confirming their plans with the group, the whole group, even those heading to Kirkwall with the Amells, Richard and the rest had wasted no time in leaving Lothering. As much as they wanted to stay and fight, they all understood it would do nothing in the long run, save to give the enemy a chance to slaughter any hope they had of ending the Blight. That didn't stop some of the team from both sides of the Eluvian from looking at the horizon, where they knew Lothering was located. The fact they expected to see smoke above the treeline at any moment was on all of their minds, but no one wanted to say it aloud.

"I hate this." Alistair sighed heavily as he looked away from the dark sky at last, and towards the growing camp site behind him. It was too dark to see anything, even smoke since that night had seen a heavy layer of clouds roll in.

"Feeling like we abandoned the few refugees to their fates? Yeah, I agree." Zatanna said and let one hand rest on her upper arm as she looked away. "Fate's often cruel though." Before Alistair could ask what she meant by that cryptic response, the sorceress started to walk towards the camp fire just as Alex got it going with a simple incantation. A brief shower of sparks shot out the tip of her staff, casting the immediate area in a soft, warm glow from the fire. The weary look in her Circle mage counterpart said Alexandria was thinking along the same lines as Zatanna put a gloved hand on the woman's shoulder. Alex didn't speak, but she reached up and put a hand over the sorceress's and nodded her thanks for her support.

That was all she needed as Zatanna slowly walked away and towards the camping supplies their latest companions had loaded on their wagon. The two dwarves, Bodahn and his son, Sandal, were quite the pair, and had been very helpful after they had rescued the pair from a darkspawn attack on their way out of Lothering. "Well hello there Lady Zatara. What can this old purveyor of goods do for you this fine evening?" Bodahn asked, smiling boisterously up at the raven haired woman.

Zatanna smirked and even managed a light laugh at the man's cheerful greeting. Despite everything, it felt good to know someone was still able to see the light in the darkness all around them. "Just came to get the tents and bedrolls from your wagon Bodahn, and it's just Zatanna, or Zat to you."

"Ah my apologies, but my good mum would likely come out of her grave and kill me if I didn't remember my manners m'lady." Bodahn replied, still smiling good naturedly as he turned to his rather simple, but kind hearted son. "Isn't that right my boy?"

"Enchantment." Sandal replied, and gave a firm nod of his head in agreement.

"Just so." Bodahn stated, earning another, louder, laugh from Zatanna.

"Fair enough you two. I wouldn't call Artemis 'm'lady' though, or refer to her as 'Lady Crock'. She _might_ find that offensive." Zatanna warned the pair. While the most Artemis would do would be to growl and curse at the two for such a formality, Zatanna was erring on the side of caution. She happened to like their new dwarven tagalongs.

"She is quite the wild one I'll admit, but she seems like a decent sort, as do most of your fellows Lady Zatara." Bodahn agreed as he patted Sandal affectionately on his head. "With that in mind, I'll admit, adventuring with such formidable companions as yourselves has always been a weakness of mine. Besides, we owe you our lives, so traveling with you fine folk seems like a good idea."

"Can't argue with that logic." Zatanna chuckled before turning her full attention on the equipment laden wagon in front of her. "Now, let's see if I got this spell down. Might want to stand back a bit boys."

"You heard the kind lady Sandal." Bodahn stated and wisely stepped away from his wagon with Sandal in tow, just in case something went wrong. The trust filled gleam in the older dwarf's face though said he believed she'd manage just fine.

Taking a calming breath to center her mind and focus her efforts, Zatanna closed her eyes for a moment before snapping them open. Throwing her arms out wide, magical energy danced across her body as a series of incantations spilled from her mouth. The first saw the tent posts flying from Bodahn's cart before slamming themselves home, perfectly spaced around the edges of the camp so as to allow the next part of her spell to take effect. The next saw the tents themselves fall over the posts, each corner tying themselves down as Zatanna continued her work. The last saw their assorted bedrolls and blankets find their way to each tent, laying themselves out neatly inside each tent as Zatanna lowered her arms. She smirked and nodded her approval of her work.

"By the Maker, that was extraordinary." Leliana said, amazed by the sorceress's display while Megan smiled briefly, having seen such displays many times before. The dwarves were excited and in awe of the sight though, and made no secret of their amazement.

"Thanks, I wasn't sure it'd work half as well honestly." Zatanna chuckled sheepishly after walking to the pair's side by the fire just as Leliana gently pulled away the bandages on the martian's shoulder. "That seems to have healed up at least." Zatanna said when unmarred white flesh was revealed underneath the old wrapping around the woman's shoulder.

"I owe Alex and Leandra for that." Megan replied as she ran a hand tentatively over the former injury. It was a little stiff from not being moved too much, but beyond that it felt find.

"Yeah, we owe her a lot." Zatanna agreed, though she was referring to Leandra. The older woman had taken care of each member of the team as if they were a part of her family. The magician just hoped that the generous woman had survived. With Thea, Jaime, and Bart at her side, as well as her own formidable children though, their chances were pretty good, but Zatanna still couldn't help but worry.

"You care about her, but that does not surprise me. I've made Hawke's acquaintance...a few times." Leliana said, drawing both Megan and Zatanna from their similar thoughts. The playful grin on the sister's face hinted at more than friendly conversation. "I was not always a Chantry lay sister." Was her humorous if cryptic response when the pair looked towards Leliana in puzzlement.

Zatanna blushed a little at what Leliana had hinted at but smirked. "Got up to some trouble in your time in Lothering huh?"

"In a manner of speaking." Leliana replied, her eyes twinkling in amusement before she sobered somewhat. "Old habits are sometimes the hardest to break, but eventually I left that part of myself behind in service to the Maker."

"But you still remember your old life I." Megan stated rather than asked, to which Leliana nodded her head as she sat down next to her on the log. Only Zatanna noticed how the martian's bio clothes erased any evidence of the cut they had endured from the darkspawn's dagger, closing over her bare shoulder as if nothing had happened in the first place.

"Every day." The redhead said quietly, her previous cheer forgotten. Without a word, Leliana wandered away to another part of camp.

"I know the feeling." Megan whispered, and ignored the uncomfortable look that had settled on Zatanna's face as she bid them good night. An uneasy tension had fallen over the pair, hinting at shared pain even if the source of it was vastly different.

"Seems like the air's thick enough to dull a knife between those two." Zatanna hardly batted an eyelash when Artemis seemed to materialize out of the shadows around the edge of camp, a bunch of rabbits hanging over her shoulder. "She certainly swooped in fast."

"Richard already gave her the talk Artemis. She knows to be careful, but knowing and doing so are not the same, we know that better than most."

"So, when the shit hits the fan and we have to leave our new favorite nutcase behind, I won't say I told you so." Artemis scoffed, having made it clear from the start when Leliana had told them her story that she believed it about as much as she believed in the tooth fairy. Her opinion of the Chantry priestess, despite brief moments of camaraderie, had only deteriorated from there the closer she got to Megan, and thus the group at large.

"Don't call her that." Zatanna told her angrily with a glare. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to sleep. At least I won't have to listen to your bitching in the Fade."

"Whatever, guess you'll miss dinner then. Or did you plan to eat off of knight boy's chest?" Zatanna stopped mid step and glared daggers at the smug look on Artemis's face. "Don't play coy Zat, Megan's not the only one giving one of our new companions lovesick eyes anytime they pass. Can't say I blame you though, you could grate cheese on that chest." Artemis licked her lips and let her gray eyes fall on said ex-Templar, making it no secret from her smoldering gaze that she found the man just as appealing.

"Bite me." Zatanna grumbled and walked towards her tent with as much speed as her dignity allowed.

Camdor only sighed as he watched the pair argue like children. "Still trying to understand our unusual group dynamics Camdor?" The Dalish only looked over towards Dinah over his shoulder and shrugged noncommittally, but it was answer enough for the older blonde. He had been asked to take first watch for the night since he and only a handful of the others were able to sense the darkspawn with any reliable accuracy. Being Grey Wardens though gave them that advantage, but he pushed those thoughts to the side as Dinah stopped at his side. "I've been meaning to talk to you, and everyone else, now that we aren't in immediate danger."

"Why? Surely your own charges need you more than me." Camdor replied softly, making it no secret he was confused as to why she was worried about him of all people.

"But you're just as much a part of the group, and my responsibility are to the minds of those I watch over and fight beside, regardless of how long I've known them." _Or what they are._ Dinah argued back gently, leaving the latter unsaid.

"Which begs the question, who heals the healer, mentally or otherwise?" Camdor asked, a small smile tugging at his lips as he regarded the strangely dressed woman beside him. For a human, she was quite easy to talk to, and seemed to understand those around her far better than anyone he had come across since leaving his clan.

"Good question, even though you try to avoid mine." Dinah said with a small smirk.

"I think you should focus on the one who looks ready to rip our Qunari friend's head off." Camdor said and nodded towards Morwen. Since the woman had heard that Sten had killed an entire family, including the children, she had avoided him as best she could. Her hands curled in bloodless fists, her teeth pressed together with an intensity that made him wonder if they were going to break any second. The few times Morwen had to talk about him, she had merely referred to him as "murderer of children".

Dinah had to nod her agreement, but that didn't stop the psychologist from putting a hand on Camdor's shoulder. "Fair enough, but if you ever want to talk, I'm here."

Before she could walk two steps, the Dalish elf called out after her. "I...appreciate what you're trying to do Dinah, truly." He began once he had turned to meet her inquisitive glance. "But I do not know you, not as your companions do. Someday soon, I hope that changes, but for now, my problems are my own."

"I understand." The blonde woman said slowly. "When the time comes, I'll be there." Camdor inclined his head ever so slightly before turning back to peering out into the darkness around their camp. It wasn't much, but it was certainly a start in the right direction.

With a sigh, Dinah let her gaze wander over their camp. She way dismayed by the fact that every single inhabitant seemed to be content to suffer on their own instead of seeking help or comfort. She could understand to a certain degree, but couldn't help but feel annoyed by their stubbornness. It didn't help any that she had made a promise to Duncan to help his young charge, Alistair, and she had yet to get a chance to talk to him. He had so far managed to keep himself too busy, most likely in an attempt to avoid talking about Ostagar, or even thinking about it. Not that she could blame him for that either, as she couldn't blame most of the group avoiding talking about the last couple of weeks.

So imagine Dinah's slight surprise when she went to her tent, only to find Morrigan waiting for her. The caustic mage was the last person she had expected to find. "Morrigan. What brings you here?"

"I had heard you were the one to talk to should something need to be lifted from one's shoulders. I find the entire concept….intriguing, and decided to indulge my curiosity." The witch explained herself, at least partly.

"Intriguing, how so?" Dinah asked curiously.

"I wonder why you would waste time on people if they are too weak to deal with their problems themselves. Aside from that I cannot help but feel skeptical at the notion that a mere conversation would help in such a situation."

"You'd be surprised just how effective offering a friendly ear can be for those in need of something so seemingly simple. And since I am bound by oath to never divulge what is discussed, save for extreme circumstances where outside help is necessary, it helps to have a confidant of my...particular talents."

"Oaths are easily spoken, even more easily broken. Why anyone would trust in a thing such as this is beyond me." Morrigan stated and crossed her arms, one hand resting on her chin as she regarded Dinah intently.

"Perhaps, but I take my oaths _very_ seriously." Dinah countered, her voice containing a subtle threat aimed directly at the mage in front of her. Dinah had to take a breath to reign in her anger at being challenged in such a way, and managed to say her next comment without every word being laced in that same dark tone. "My charges understand that, and I have yet to give them a reason to doubt me. I don't plan to give them one either. They've been through too much as it is."

If Morrigan heard the subtle, underlying threat in Dinah's voice, she either didn't notice it or she ignored it altogether as she stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Tis a curious notion, but I suppose it only adds credence to my mother's tale that you are not of Thedas."

Dinah merely nodded in response, wondering what the witch's aim was. However, her curiosity would remain unsatisfied as the yellow eyed sorceress merely grinned at her before she retreated back to her own fire. Shaking her head, Dinah sighed and fought back a tired yawn as she straightened out the tent's interior. Zatanna's spell had done a good job of getting everything set up, it just needed a little organizing, but it was not a hard task. When she had gotten her blankets and bedroll straightened out, Dinah stopped when she turned and felt someone standing at her tent flap.

"Sorry to bother you Dinah, but I figured you'd hunt me down if I didn't come on my own." Dick chuckled weakly as he slipped inside and nodded to the veteran hero. Dinah smirked briefly but gestured to the floor before her as she sat down across from him.

"What's on your mind Richard?" Dinah asked, and noted the heavy weight that had since fell on the young man's shoulders. That was not surprising, even without the darkspawn coming into their lives.

"What isn't on my mind might be a better question." Richard replied tiredly and sighed, his hands hanging just over the edge of his knees. Dinah waited patiently, knowing Richard nearly as well as he knew himself, better in some cases. Like Bruce, he talked only when he was ready, so she knew better than to push him too quickly. "I guess the big thing right now is M'gann."

"And her new companion." Dinah finished for him, knowing he hadn't wanted to be rude, or insensitive, but she dealt in complete truths, not half truths. So when Richard sighed heavily and nodded, Dinah pressed on. "You're worried she's not all she claims."

"Aren't you?" The young man shot back with a raised eyebrow.

"I'd be lying if I said I thought she wasn't hiding something, but we're all hiding something Richard. If you ask me if I think she's dangerous however, that I honestly don't think she is, at least not to us." Dinah replied honestly, and she really didn't believe Leliana was out to hinder them in the slightest.

"I see. I understand your reasoning, but… I can't trust her. Not yet." Richard said softly, thinking of an old friend that had almost betrayed the entire League and his team without even realizing he was a pawn to another person. He doubted Leliana was such a thrall to another's will, but the point remained that they had been tricked before, and he was in no hurry to risk another betrayal by someone he had only just met, although the same could be said about all of their new companions really, especially the qunari they had picked up. Yet Leliana was the one he worried about the most.

"I'd be disappointed if you did, but Leliana seems genuine in her concern for Megan, and by extension the rest of us. As to the validity of her vision, that I can't begin to guess on, but she believes it. Maybe that'll be enough to ensure she stands by our side until this is over, so long as we don't give her a reason to turn on us." Dinah retorted with a small shrug.

"Like say desecrating some important relic huh?" Richard asked, a playful smirk tugging at his lips even if he was being partially serious at the same time. It was pretty clear to both heroes that Leliana took her faith very seriously.

"My point exactly."

"I hear you, it's just. She believes in her vision, but… I'm pretty sure that Joker and Harley Quinn also think that what they do makes sense in some twisted fashion. Call me biased. At least with Leliana I'm fairly sure I won't have to sleep with one eye open."

"But you'll do it anyway." Dinah stated, and raised an eyebrow inquisitively although she already knew the answer, to which Richard shrugged in response. It was all the confirmation she needed, but that didn't stop her from asking one question. "And Morwen?"

To his credit, Richard kept a straight face even as his cheeks turned a shade brighter. "We disagree, often. It would be easier if she weren't so damn stubborn." He said at length and folded his hands under his chin.

"But you understand her." Dinah stated rather than asked, and decided to ignore how ironic that statement sounded coming from him.

"Better than I'd like to admit." Dinah needed no explanation there as Richard let his hands fall back to his lap. "Despite our differences, I have nothing but respect for her, and I think she feels the same way."

"Hmm." Dinah hummed in response and looked towards the fire which she could just make out through her partially open tent flap.

"What?" Nightwing asked warily. He had seen that expression on her face before, and he had never liked it.

"Nothing." Dinah said with a small smirk. "Unless you wanted to tell me something else."

"No….I think we're done here." Richard said, getting the hint she had read more from his statement and body language than he was comfortable with discussing at the present time. Yes Morwen was willful and stubborn, but they shared a lot of firm beliefs, even if they differed greatly.

Dinah wasn't quite ready to let it go at that however and reached up and stopped Richard from getting too far. "It's alright to feel attracted to her Dick. She is a formidable woman in her own right, and if I've learned anything from our brief time together, you and her share more than anyone else in our current group. Both of you have lost your families, although she has lost hers far more recently, and while you were able to find closure, she is still searching for an opportunity to do the same. Help her as much as she allows you to Richard, and if something more comes between you, don't fight it."

Unfortunately for her, Richard had stopped listening at the words' attracted to her'. "Attracted? I am not attracted to her! I haven't even known her for that long. One of the few things that I know about her is that she will stop at nothing to protect those around her, an admirable trait though she takes it a bit far." Dick huffed out and glared at Dinah when she rolled her eyes at his reply. "I admit, from what I've seen, she's formidable, and to be honest, yes she's attractive, but still."

"Well, you totally convinced me." Dinah deadpanned at the younger man. When he turned his patented death glare on the sonic screamer, Dinah only crossed her arms and smirked challengingly up at him. "Don't look at me like that. Stranger things have happened." Instead of giving that a response, Richard groaned and walked out, his metaphorical tail between his legs, much to Dinah's hidden amusement. One of the world's greatest detectives, and he was utterly clueless to his own romantic feelings towards one of their new companions. Yes, it hadn't been long since they had met, but Dinah was not so blind. She could see the start of something between them, and if given time, it could very well become something far more.

Richard had been lucky that Zatanna had muttered a few spells that ensured that no one could eavesdrop on a discussion as long as it was within her own tent. One of the benefits of being the team's counselor was that Dinah was afforded more privacy than most. The sorceress had even made sure that she could hear everything happening outside her tent, but anything inside couldn't slip past the tent's boundaries, so while any who came to talk to her couldn't be overhead, the same couldn't be said about anyone talking too close to her tent.

So, Dinah was just able to hear Alex, Zatanna and Leliana speaking by the fire. The raven haired sorceress was apparently unable to sleep despite her earlier intentions of doing so, and if Dinah was any judge, she guessed she was fired up after shouting at Artemis earlier. Curiosity getting the better of her, the psychologist hovered near the entrance to her tent and did her best to listen.

She wasn't disappointed by what she heard. "-for helping Megan. I know Artemis hasn't exactly been nice to you since you joined up with us Leli, but I just wanted you to know not everyone shares her mistrust."

"She is just worried about her friend, although she pretends to be above such things." Leliana replied, and earned a quiet giggle from both Zatanna and Alex. "It is not hard to see how the blonde woman hovers protectively around you all. But what about you?"

"Do _I_ trust you?" Zatanna asked, and looked towards the fire in front of them. "Honestly, that whole vision thing kind of creeps me out, but stranger things have been known to happen around us. But as for you as a person Leli, I get that you're like us in a way, that you have your own secrets that you're not ready or willing to talk about, but that's true for everyone here. It might be too early to say I trust you without question, but I'm willing to give you a chance."

"That is more than I had hoped for." While Alex only nodded her head in agreement, it was reassuring to know that at least two of the group were giving her a chance. Leliana smiled warmly up at the pair before turning her gaze to Megan's tent, where the martian had since turned in for the night. They all had a feeling it wouldn't be a restful night's sleep, but that didn't stop Leliana from wanting to know more about her. "What can you tell me about her?"

"Megan?" Zatanna asked, and hesitated in answering Leliana's question. She shared Richard's unspoken suspicion that the Chantry sister was more than she appeared, but as she had just said, they were all far more than they appeared. Judging her on that alone would be hypocritical. But it was more than that, she just wasn't sure what she could share without talking to Megan first. "I'm not sure what I can tell you, both as a friend and for the simple fact I don't want to invade her privacy, but I can tell you what she used to be like before we...came here." Zatanna finally said.

"I do not mean to pry, and I have to admit that a part of me is curious, but you are right. I cannot ask you to betray your friend's trust like that. I apologize, that was rude of me."

"Hey, don't apologize for being curious Leli. I'm just as worried about her, more honestly, but only because I've known her for so long." Zatanna replied and smiled briefly before gesturing for them to sit down on the log behind them. Leliana nodded and sat down on Zatanna's left while Alex remained by the fire, her hands folded neatly behind her back. If they didn't know any better, Zatanna at least would have said she had fallen asleep on her feet, but the occasional blink as Alex stared into the heart of the small blaze said otherwise. Ignoring the Circle mage for now, Zatanna turned and met Leliana's curious gaze. "Well, let me ask this first. What has she told you about herself?"

"Fair enough." Leliana said and nodded before leaning back a little on their makeshift seat. "She hinted at a lonely childhood, of running away from home, of starting again among you and your friends. She even hinted at some of your adventures, but she hasn't gone into any details regarding any of it. The only things I know for sure is all from second hand knowledge, and that was largely her appearance and how she was able to send the order to retreat right into every soldier's mind, as well as her display of power on the field of Ostagar."

"So she's been typical Megan then, sharing little about her past while saying just enough to stave off pointed questions." Zatanna stated, not at all surprised, especially given their current circumstances. Even in far less stressful times, Megan had never been open about her past on Mars, not until those in the Light organization had threatened her place among the team by revealing what she was to the League and those on the team in an effort to control her for their own ends. Thankfully, M'gann had revealed the truth to them herself before the Light had a chance to manipulate her.

"Perhaps, but she was very polite about it." Leliana countered, and smiled despite the fact it was all too true.

"Like I said, typical Megan." Zatanna shot back with a sad smile. Even in emotional turmoil, the martian managed to be polite and endearing to someone she had never met before. She lowered her gaze as a new wave of guilt rose up. M'gann deserved better than this, Conner did too. A part of her wished that she could switch places with Conner, to spare M'gann the pain, and herself as well. To no longer hold herself responsible for what had happened to her father….But that was selfish and she knew it, so instead did her best to push those thoughts away. Not quick enough though when she saw Leliana's gaze dart away when Zatanna looked up again.

"You hold yourself responsible for what happened to her lover." It wasn't a question, and Zatanna found she didn't have it in her to refute the woman's all too keen observation. Though from the corner of her eye, she could also see Morwen lower her head at Leliana's words. Alex remained unmoving, but the subtlest twitch of her lips said she too had been affected by Leliana's words. Apparently she was not the only one who felt guilty about the deaths upon the fields of Ostagar.

Leliana took the slight movements in each of them as acknowledgement and hesitantly put a hand on Zatanna's shoulder. "I saw more than my share of dead and dying pass through Lothering's gates. The wounded and those still able to stand talked only of the darkspawn, of being scattered by the horde, but they also spoke of those that had stood with them. Even with hope fled and victory wrested from their hands, those able to see past their defeat remember well the efforts of several strangers that had done impossible feats never before imagined. It might not have been enough, but you inspired them, gave them hope that the next time they fight against this Blight, they will come out victorious. It is these small victories we must cling to when all other hope is lost. As for those you have lost, hold them close to your heart, keep their memory alive."

"What good is hope if those that inspire it fall victim to the darkness?" Alex asked tonelessly. "All our efforts were for naught, and we achieved nothing in those accursed ruins. We only found death and despair."

"But Leliana's right…." Zatanna softly replied and looked up towards Alex. "Trust me, I remember all too well what happened there, it's all I can think about, but I wouldn't be here if I gave up anytime I was knocked down. While...this is new for me, losing two friends in as many months, if we don't keep fighting, then we'll have made their sacrifices mean nothing." She didn't sound convincing even to her own ears, but Zatanna still believed in what she said as she lowered her gaze to the fire in front of her. "I can't fight for the world, that's too big even for someone who's done half as much as I have. Fighting for my friends though, that's something I can do."

"Perhaps, but what can we do against such reckless hate?" Alex asked, her eyes full of pain. "The darkspawn seek to destroy us all, what can we do against their endless horde? If that weren't enough, we have to contend with traitors that want to kill us the first chance they get."

"We do the only thing we can do Alex, we tackle each obstacle in our path one by one. It's the only way we're going to get through this." Zatanna replied softly before meeting Leliana's gaze. The woman nodded in agreement, her eyes holding approval for the sorceress's words.

"You make it sound so easy." Alex retorted, but despite her disdain, they both saw just a sliver of hope that maybe she was right as the mage walked away to the tents before seeming to choose an empty one at random.

"It's anything but easy." Zatanna softly whispered to herself, unheard by the other mage. She could easily see where Alexandra was coming from. She too felt the despair, it was hard not to, especially after she had seen the refugees in Lothering. But she couldn't abandon her friends, not now, not after they had come through so much already.

Leliana couldn't help but admire the strength she could sense from Zatanna's tall frame. It only reaffirmed her suspicion that these people had seen a lot together. Their bond might have been shaken, their confidence tested, their strength and unity beaten, but she firmly believed they'd find a way to band together and push on. Instead of commenting on that though, the former bard squeezed Zatanna's shoulder, drawing her attention away from the fire. "You do not have to bear this burden alone Zatanna. If we're to work together, we must learn to trust one another, yes? If you ever need anything, I am never far."

"Thank you, Leli. That means more to me than it probably should, since we've only met a couple days ago, but it helps to know I can rely on someone outside my close group of friends." She hoped she could anyway, but a small part of her mind still wondered about Leliana's true intentions. No doubt the same suspicions that Richard harbored about the Chantry sister, but she pushed it to the side. Leliana had yet to give them a reason to doubt them, and until such a time that she did, _if_ she ever did, Zatanna would keep an open mind as she slowly stood to her feet and walked to her tent, leaving Leliana alone at the camp fire.

"I'm just going to say this once, red." Leliana internally sighed, recognizing the gruff voice, and wasn't disappointed when Artemis walked up to the fire from behind her, her face locked in a hard glare directly solely at her. "Hurt _any_ of my friends and they'll never find your body. And since we're out in the boonies, that wouldn't be too hard to accomplish."

"I understand." Leliana said cooly and looked back at Artemis without any sign of fear or intimidation visible. She had endured too much to be scared that easily. That didn't stop Leliana from calling out to the archer just as she started away. "I'm not such a bad person once you get to know me. But that would require you to actually risk a friendly conversation."

"Careful, red. My patience is limited." Artemis hissed back, her hand gripping her bow.

"Oh I know, you're as taut as your bowstring. I'm amazed you haven't snapped from all that pent up tension." Leliana retorted, making it clear she didn't need her daggers to cut down the archer. Her sharp tongue more than made up the difference.

"That's enough, both of you." Richard told them coldly and graced both women with a dark glare. "You can take the second shift to think about your differences." He wondered, briefly, if he hadn't made a mistake when Leliana smiled and bowed her head apologetically, her blue eyes holding a measure of mischievous amusement while Artemis glared daggers at both him and the sister. Artemis stomped off and ripped her tent flap open before doing her best to slam it shut behind her. Leliana idly walked to her own, planning to sleep for a few hours before her new shift began, all the while giving Richard the impression she was going to enjoy spending the time with Artemis a little too much.

Dinah saw it all and could only shake her head as she walked over to her bedroll. She had certainly learned a great deal, things she could bring up the next time they stopped for the night if an opportunity didn't present itself beforehand. Either way, she had filed away everything for future reference, planning to get the team and their new companions on the same page, both for their own sakes and for the sake of the mission that yet lay before them.

**The Fade**

"And here we go again." Zatanna grumbled as she 'woke up' within the dreamscape she was starting to hate with a passion. "Oh look, a black city in the sky, never saw that one before." The sorceress muttered as she looked towards the distant, ever present city in the Fade, the only constant in an ever changing realm.

"You are a funny little mortal, but you are not of this realm, so your sarcasm can be forgiven. Even celebrated." The unexpected voice drew out a gasp as Zatanna spun on her heel, hands raised as lightning danced between her fingers in challenge. The desire demon put a clawed finger to her full, dark lips and chuckled softly. "Are you surprised to see me? You called me here after all. Your desires, your every wish, made flesh."

"Right, I called a naked, horned demon because I wanted to get possessed. _Not_." Zatanna retorted sarcastically, even as her eyes roved over the scantily clad creature before her. Even that word, scantily, was a bit of a stretch, since the only thing the creature before her had on was a flimsy string over her full, ripe breasts and a thin, transparent pleated skirt covering her lower half. The horns on her head, the dark purple flames dancing from her eyebrows and up to the back of her head, her clawed, supple, dexterous fingers, and her cloven feet said she was no benevolent being, as did the aura of...malevolence that seemed to emanate from her. Yet the rest of her exotic, erotic appearance said something else entirely.

"Who said that I wanted to posses you? No, there are far more _pleasurable_ things I could do to you." The demon said with a slight smile, her aura pulsing with power. Zatanna couldn't help but shiver at the aura, making it clear that the demon in front of her was not to be underestimated. Her raw power alone would make her a challenging opponent. That and she was horrified to realize that every word the demon spoke seemed to wiggle its way into the darkest corners of her mind, encouraging her to relax, to lower her guard since this creature was not here to pick a fight.

But Zatanna would not be deceived so easily as she crossed her arms and glared down at the manifestation of her every temptation and dark desire. "Oh I'm sure you could, but I'm not that easy demon. I've heard more than enough about your kind from Alexandria."

"A Circle mage afraid of her own power, like so many before her, where you have fully embraced what you are." The demon chuckled again and ran a hand down her body, her hand falling to her the edge of her skirt. She started to slowly pull it down her leg, before promptly pulling it back up. Turning her back on Zatanna, the desire demon shook her head in mocking disappointment. "I know of such mages, having encountered my share before, and you are so far above them. It makes me wonder why you would bother to help such a weak willed girl, afraid of what she could become if she but gave up her fear, so ingrained in her from an early age."

"You answered it best already, I'm not from this realm." Zatanna retorted, and raised her hand just as her blue eyes started to glow menacingly.

"Tsk tsk, so quick to attack. You would strike me down merely for being what I am?" The demon asked, and idly fondled her right breast, causing Zatanna to pause in her attempt to gather her power for a no doubt devastating attack. She wasted no time in pressing her slight advantage. "Where is the justice in that?" The demon asked with false innocence. "If this is justice, then why have you not destroyed Nabu? He enslaved countless others before he took your father, you know this and yet you would spare him and not me?"

Despite her better judgment, Zatanna slowly lowered her hand, feeling as if the desire demon had just punched her in the stomach for all intents and purposes. She had no ready answer since she had wondered that herself more than once, although she always came back to the same answer. "And allow Chaos to rule over my world? No thanks." It, and a handful of other reasons, were the only things that protected Nabu from a full on assault by the League for seizing control of one of their own, and Zatanna would have been at the head of that particular line.

"You destroy the demons of your realm, but not those that summon them. You would eradicate an entire species, whose only crime is being born as demons. Worse still, for I can guess that you do not even know where demons come from, do you? They are made manifest from your kind, your darkest desires, your prides, your lusts. _You_ give us life, yet you would destroy us. You are worse than those you seek to punish." The desire demon purred and cocked one shapely hip to the side, accentuating her figure further. If the words had been spoken in the mortal realm, Zatanna would have been able to simply disregard them. In the Fade however, the words wormed their way into her head. Making her hesitate, making her reluctantly agree with the foe that stood before her.

Seeing the sorceress hesitation, sensing her doubt, the demon pushed on. "There is hope for you yet, Zatanna Zatara, sorceress supreme, wielder of forces Thedas has not seen since Andraste herself walked among the mortals of this world." Before Zatanna could react, the desire demon was right in front of her, a clawed hand just shy of her face as the creature leaned in as if to kiss her. Zatanna was transfixed, like a deer in headlights as her cyan eyes couldn't tear themselves away from the dark, tantalizing orbs in front of her. To make matters worse, she could pick up the smell of lavender and sandalwood, a mixture that had hung around her home growing up alone with her loving father. The smell brought back many pleasant memories, but the current situation reminded her she was still in immediate danger even if the rest of her wanted to get lost in those same memories. So Zatanna was almost grateful when the desire demon merely smiled and whispered. "If you wish to find me, simply call my name the next time you sleep. Perhaps you'll be more open to...negotiations."

"Don't count on it." Zatanna spat back, but it lacked any bite.

"We'll see." The demon promised with a smile as she slowly walked backwards, each movement making her considerable assets bounce alluringly. Despite herself, Zatanna couldn't find it in herself to look away until the demon spoke again. "Have fun."

With those last words, the demon disappeared, as if she had never been there. Before Zatanna got the chance to wonder what the demon meant, she could hear growls from behind her. A quick glance showed that a small group of weaker demons, black, oily like creatures that had a single eye above a mouthful of razor sharp teeth, had found her. They looked like a cross between a cloak dipped in oil and a wet rag, trailing ooze wherever they went. If not for the razor sharp claws that passed for their hands, she would have almost found it in her to laugh at their ridiculous appearance after dealing with the desire demon. As it were, it took her far longer to shake off the image of those purple, burning eyes and start channeling her first spell than she liked as the first of the Fade demons closed in.

For a moment, the demons seemed to hesitate once they saw her effortlessly channel the arcane energies into her hands. Apparently they hadn't gotten the memo that she wasn't from Thedas, but after that brief moment, they seemed even more determined to attack her than before.

The first demon was disintegrated by a solid wall of fire that had sprung to life before her. Another was hit by a ball of lighting, but the last one managed to use the distraction his fellows had caused and scored a small cut on her arm. He was blasted apart by a wave of pure energy a moment later, but she still could feel the pain throbbing in her arm.

However, that was far from her only concern. Whether it was her usage of arcane energies or the wound she had just received, she could literally feel the Fade pulsing around her. Other entities had become aware of her, like predators that had smelled fresh blood, her presence known to them. In the distance, she could hear the screeches of lower demons that were determined to get to her. " _Great_." Zatanna cursed, and sighed heavily before she rubbed at the scratch on her arm before closing her eyes to concentrate on defending herself. The pain, Fade related or not, had done some unexpected good on pushing the desire demon's touch from her mind, limiting her influence to a small degree. She didn't care about that though as she opened her eyes, her orbs glowing brightly once more as she did more than channel energy for a few small, elementary spells. She was planning to bring out the big guns.

Levitating a foot off the lifeless ground, her legs folded underneath her in a meditative pose, Zatanna raised a blue shimmering shield around herself. Even as the bubble appeared around her though, another incantation was already falling from her lips just as the first of the new arrivals climbed up onto her hilltop. She paid them no more mind than a fly under her boot, and summarily crushed it when she opened her right hand and closed it tight. The ground underneath the demon similarly opened up and swallowed it and two of its companions before closing on them all.

The next group was similarly executed as Zatanna raised her hands above her head. A dark cloud formed above her, spitting bolts of lightning in every direction. She was in no danger, even if she hadn't erected a barrier around herself, but the same couldn't be said for those around her as lightning cracked and destroyed any that dared approach her.

Those demons never stood a chance, but they were far weaker than the desire demon she had faced before. Alexandra had told her that demons and spirits alike inhabited the Fade, and that both could shape it if they desired to do so. There was the possibility that she had been unfortunate enough to 'awaken' within the domain of the desire demon. Or it had been hunting her since she had started to walk the Fade like any mage born to Thedas.

Whatever the case, she was in even more trouble than she first thought. The demon could shape everything around her to either fool her, or to construct a death trap without equal. Zatanna didn't like these odds regardless, and for all her magical might, she knew couldn't keep something like her lighting storm running indefinitely.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by a slow clapping that seemed to mock her in ways she could not explain. "Well done, Zatanna Zatara." The desire demon bellowed from a nearby cliff. "You posses even more power than I had anticipated, this is going to be… fun."

"I will never submit to the likes of you." Zatanna hissed, her eyes still glowing with raw magic.

"We shall see, sorceress supreme." The demon told her mockingly, and grabbed one of her own breasts, fondling it anew. "In time, you will kneel before me." A lightning bolt lashed out towards the desire demon in response, but she had since disappeared with a throaty, lust filled laugh that sent unpleasant tingles down Zatanna's spine. Even though she wasn't physically present, the desire demon's breath tickled Zatanna's neck as it whispered a single word into her ear.

Snapping awake in a cold sweat, Zatanna sat upright in her bedroll and wrapped her arms around herself. Even with the heavy blankets, she felt cold, yet hot at the same time. She guessed it was the lingering effect of the desire demon, causing her to feel aroused and worked up, among other things, and it took a considerable effort of will to bottle those feelings up and throw away the key. Despite her best efforts though, Zatanna couldn't force herself to forget the word the demon had whispered in her ear that had sounded like a promise of something far more.

"Lilith." Zatanna said aloud, testing the name on her tongue. She didn't include any of her power in the utterance, but Zatanna shivered again when she heard, or thought she heard, a whisper of sensual, soft laughter that had heat and liquid desire running down her spine to pool in her stomach. She groaned and quickly left her tent, needing the chill morning air to calm her racing thoughts. Never before had she been so utterly undone with such ease, and despite the fact she had purged most of Lilith's influence already, her arguments remained.

Besides Morwen just coming back from a walk around the camp, it turned out she was the only one present, and sighed in relief since she really didn't want to explain what she was doing up so early in such a state of disarray. Remembering Bodahn telling the group about a nearby, naturally occurring hot spring on the edge of camp, Zatanna ducked into her tent long enough to grab her bag of personal toiletries and a change of clothes before making her way there. Besides a quick rinse at Leandra's, most of the group hadn't bothered to worry much about such a small thing considering the miles they had to travel yet, regardless if they were staying in Thedas or returning to Earth.

Her thoughts were brought to a halt when she saw a familiar figure in the water already when she pushed through a small clump of bushes that acted as a kind of privacy screen. The shoulder length black hair was just visible as Alex looked up before promptly looking away in an effort to hide the red, dark puffy bags under her eyes. "Sorry….I'll be out soon."

"Hey, there's no rush." Zatanna said as she chose to simply stick her toes in the steaming water for now. "I...wanted to talk to you anyway. I think I need your help." That certainly got Alex's attention as the Circle mage looked up, her brown eyes opened wide at Zatanna's admission.

"You...need my help? I don't know if I should be happy about that or freaked out considering how strong you are." Alex managed to stutter out.

"Strength means little if you don't know how to use it. Besides, it takes a lot more strength to ask for aid than it does to try to stand on your own. Believe me, I know." Zatanna replied before lowering her head slightly as she told the mage her about her encounter with her first Fade demon.

When she was done, Alex having long since forgotten why she had been so upset earlier, slowly pulled herself out of the water and sat on the edge of the pool, a stone's throw away from Zatanna. "No wonder you look so jumpy this morning. I...remember well my first encounter with such a being, I still have nightmares about it. And they always seem to know when we're at our weakest, making them that much harder to fight off."

"So, any ideas for someone who hasn't had to be afraid of falling asleep until now?" Zatanna managed to make it sound like a joke, but the paleness on her face and the uneasy look in her blue eyes said otherwise.

"Always be on your guard. It may sound paranoid, but don't trust anything within the Fade, even if it looks like a small rock in your path." Alex told her seriously, remembering a 'spirit' that had tried to pass itself off as a mouse. "Demons often use some sort of illusion to fool us. What worries me is that this demon has a name. Most of them don't bother with such things, and those that do often are more powerful than their nameless brethren."

"Great, I'm a magnet for trouble as always it seems. If it's not Klarion, Wotan, or some other dark sorcerer back home, it's this Lilith that wants a piece of me." Zatanna huffed before a heavy sigh escaped her. "She knew things about me, Alex, things only a handful of people know, and she tried to use it against me. I remember you warning me about what these things are capable of, but...she almost had me eating out of the palm of her hand by the time I woke up this morning, covered in a cold sweat. I don't think I've ever been so terrified before in my life."

"It's just what they do Zat. They twist everything to suit their purpose, and it's always the same thing in the end. They want what they don't have, a way into this world. Unfortunately, that usually entails using us as their means to move about and sow chaos everywhere they go."

"And those more benevolent spirits, what do they want?" Zatanna asked, dreading the answer, but she needed to know everything she could after coming so close to ruin. To say she was feeling desperate wouldn't have been a far stretch.

"I don't know, they have no interest in our world and are content to stay within the Fade. They simply follow their nature. Spirits of the Fade might not want anything to do with us, but that's not to say some don't protect those few people that cross their paths, if they find them worthy." Alex explained with a small shrug.

Zatanna sighed and nodded before she noticed Alex had gotten closer at some point. She was really distracted, still shaken up over last night's encounter, but she didn't feel threatened here. "Thanks….for letting me rant. Never woulda thought I'd dread falling asleep. I haven't been afraid of the dark since I was four. Now? Now I'm starting to wonder if it was a mistake for me to come here.

"You'll adapt." Alex told her confidently. "Maker's breath Zatanna, you're far more powerful than even First Enchanter Irving back at the Circle where I grew up, yet you're not afraid to admit to your fear of the Fade. I...knew a mage that couldn't face up to his fears, of potentially becoming an abomination, and he chose to become a Tranquil. You're right in saying what you did….when we started talking. That's why...I'm glad you came here, because I don't think I could have made it this far without another mage to walk besides in this darkness. Someone that understands, in her own way, what it is we face. Last night, I was still reeling over leaving Lothering before the horde got there, that's not even mentioning Ostagar, but I realize now I was acting selfishly. Letting my despair and hopelessness take hold over my common sense. I'm still needed, even if I feel our chances are slim, at best."

"We all get at that point sooner or later." Zatanna replied emphatically. "You don't have to apologize, it's only natural for you to feel this way after… what happened."

"I know….and I forgot that in my own emotional turmoil, and lashed out at those that were suffering as much as me. I guess it didn't help that I had just met my family, part of it anyway, and we were forced to send them across the sea to the Free Marches. Maker I hope they made it." Alex said and looked away for a moment before looking up into Zatanna's face. She blushed then and remembered she had been sitting there in the nude that whole time, the morning sun having since dried her off. "Right...now that I've made a fool of myself, I'm...gonna get myself dressed for another day of marching through the mud."

Zatanna had the decency not to giggle at Alex's embarrassment. "It's alright Alex. I've had to share a bathroom with most of the team at some point or another. I think I can get over seeing you naked." She teased, just able to hold back her laughter as Alex's cheeks turned a shade brighter still.

"Right...not helping. Go, enjoy your soak, I'll...be over here, trying not to die of mortification." Alex said and tried to walk away with as much dignity as she could muster to her side of the pool, where she had left her fresh robes on a small, moss covered boulder.

"That _would_ be a shame." Zatanna replied, smiling mischievously at Alex's back as the Circle mage stumbled and almost fell into the pool in her dignified retreat. She shook her head and chuckled softly as she started to undo the buttons to her white top before slipping out of the soft white shirt, revealing her muscular form underneath. She wasn't on par with Artemis or Richard by any means, but like most of the team, Zatanna had trained in many forms of combat, even if she had a preference for her magic first and foremost. And it showed in her developed musculature, giving her a wiry, lean frame that only added to her overall beauty or so many of her male admirers had said at some point or another.

And from the furtive glances Alex was throwing her way as she got dressed in another of her Circle mage robes, this one a deep red wine color with blue highlights running down the front, Zatanna found it hard not to poke fun at Alex's inability to keep her gaze from wandering. Instead she decided to go with a question that had been nagging at her for some time. "I'm curious Alex, but what did you guys do at the Circle when you weren't busy studying?"

"It d-depended on the person. I read, mostly. There were some that talked politics within the tower. Even in a secluded place as Konnlech Hold, political intrigue among the mages is as strong as anywhere else. But...some of the younger mages like myself, an elf friend I knew named Solona, and a few others….well….they experimented." Alex hesitantly stammered out, her cheeks almost as red as her robes as she secured her vestments closed before running her hands through her short black hair in an effort to straighten it out before it dried too much.

"And I'm gonna take a wild guess they got...creative with their spellwork." Zatanna chuckled as she slid up to her chin in the hot water with a contented, happy groan. "I'll admit I might have done the same a couple times." Zatanna admitted, and looked up towards Alex with half lidded eyes.

If she hadn't already been blushing, she certainly would have been after that less than subtle glance. It took a considerable effort on her part not to faint there on the spot as Alex swallowed the uncomfortable lump in her throat. "I'm not against a bit of self exploration by any means, but….let's just say I had some sleepless nights, listening to those gits getting rowdy in some dark corner, away from Templar eyes."

Zatanna chuckled in response and closed her eyes fully, content to float in the warm water for the moment. Alex seemed to be of a similar mindset as the other woman remained silent, content to perch herself on the small boulder she had put her clothes upon earlier. Nothing could ruin this moment for her.

"By the Maker!" Alistair's voice shook her out of her pleasant thoughts. She looked up to see a beet red ex-templar whose hands were pressed over his eyes in embarrassment. "I am so, so sorry, I didn't know! I didn't see a thing I swear! I'm just gonna-" Before he got two steps away, Zatanna had since let forth a spell spill from her mouth purely on instinct. A very unmanly yelp escaped Alistair as he soon found himself tied up in white cloth from the neck down before realizing he was hanging from a sturdy tree branch, upside down. "Hey! I said I was sorry!"

"Ugh. _**Gag**_." Zatanna muttered in disdain before more white cloth covered the knight's mouth, silencing his protests altogether. With a huff, Zatanna sunk back into the water and tried to hide her own burning cheeks. When she looked up towards Alex though and saw her amused smirk on her lips, the sorceress groaned in defeat. "Fine, there might be some truth to Artemis's mutterings last night. I said _might_."

"Keep telling yourself that Zat." Alex chuckled as she passed by the bound Alistair.

"Mmpfh?" Alistair 'asked' around the gag in his mouth, but both women ignored him. He sighed and did his best to lower his head in defeat, wondering how he had gotten himself in this situation. A few minutes later, it could have been hours and he wouldn't have been able to tell the difference in his currently inverted position, Alistair was released with an amused, and fully dressed, Zatanna grinning down at him. "I just want to say I had no intention of barging in like that." He said the moment his mouth was free of the gag.

"I know, but consider this a lesson in humility. And to call out, on the off chance someone's a bit preoccupied." Zatanna replied and held out her hand to the ex-Templar.

"Point taken, and will _not_ be forgotten, ever." Alistair promised her with a small smile. He hesitated, briefly, to take the offered hand, but he gladly accepted it once he was fairly sure he wasn't about to get blasted into the dirt for his blunder. Despite his better judgment though, Alistair had to know something. "So...might what exactly?" Alistair asked once Zatanna had started back towards camp.

He felt all the color leave his face when she paused mid step and glared over his shoulder at him. "Do you want to be tied to a tree again down to your underwear this time?"

"Nope, I'm good." He hastily replied and waved his hands defensively in front of him.

 _ **End Notes:**_ _Besides a brief stop at the Eluvian next chapter, they're heading to Redcliffe to settle that whole mess. Expect some of the first big changes to occur there. As for the Fade demon thing, I'm not happy with some of what my muse insisted upon, but overall I think we did a pretty good job of getting the more terrifying aspects of it down, and bringing miss fancy britches Zatanna down a couple pegs at the same time. Beyond that, I hope you guys have enjoyed the story thus far and we'll continue to do our best to impress._

_Also, while it's still a ways off, the first of the Unedited chapters will be coming sooner or later, so look for those when we get them going. Hopefully I don't screw up too badly on the more smuttier side of things since I've yet to write anything of the sort where everyone can see it. Kinda nervous about it really. Anyway, adios!_


	15. Altered Perceptions

**Chapter 15: Altered Perceptions**

"Do you mind telling me where the others have gone?" Leliana asked, she not the only one noticing that more than a few of the group had disappeared while they had been busy setting up camp that evening on the edge of the forest. Having since left Lothering far behind, they had made for Redcliffe with as much speed as they could muster, but it was slow going and they still had two and a half days to go. They would have kept going that evening for a couple hours yet, except for the fact it had rained heavily again that morning, and the road ahead was almost impassable with the mud dragging at their boots with every step. With heavy packs on most of their backs, and more than a few of the group unused to such strenuous activity for one reason or another, it had been amazing they had gotten as far as they had.

Even so, Dinah didn't need the martian's telepathy to tell her that Leliana was likely more concerned for one of the missing team members than the rest, although she was also sure her concern extended to the others just as much. With that in mind, she nodded and gestured towards her enchanted tent. She didn't plan to tell Leliana anything that might compromise the Justice League of course, but unlike Richard, Dinah trusted the woman, mainly because she had been there for M'gann when she had needed someone the most. That had endeared the redhead to her to some extent on its own merits.

The Chantry sister followed the psychologist without a word, respecting the older woman's desire for privacy when discussing certain things. Her own faith in the Maker aside, Leliana had seen some strange things in her life, so she was willing to believe the story most of her traveling companions were not from Thedas. Besides, she'd be a fool not to believe what her own eyes had seen since joining the group. With those thoughts and many more swirling through her mind, Leliana found herself in Dinah's tent, curiosity far outweighing anything else.

The fact Dinah's eyes were scrutinizing her, not out of suspicion, Leliana was happy to note, but merely curiosity, didn't surprise her. She had heard the rumors about this woman's capacity as a healer of the mind, and found the idea quite intriguing. She did wonder what Dinah thought of her, having so far been unable to talk to her at length since their adventure had started, but she pushed those thoughts to the side as she sat down across from the darkly clad blonde, Dinah having changed out of her armor and back into her regular clothes. Leliana had done the same, preferring the comfort and familiarity of her Chantry garb over the leather armor she had worn since waking up that morning.

Once she had settled on the tent's floor across from her, Dinah again gave a mental thanks to Zatanna's foresight in enchanting her tent so that no one could overhear anything she might say with those she talked with, both for her own peace of mind and those she tried to help. She made a mental note to seek out Morwen, Alistair, and the physically imposing Sten as soon as she was done here, but for now she focused on the redhead in front of her. "Before I get into where the others are, do you mind if I ask you a couple questions Leliana?"

"Not at all. I actually expected as much since we've yet had an opportunity to talk. I've heard what it is you do from Zatanna, and I must admit I find the idea of such a healer very fascinating."

From the wonderment in her voice, Dinah had to smile, glad to see she had Leliana's approval at least. Morrigan's disdain for her presence had stung, more than she would have liked to admit, but it was refreshing to know not everyone shared the witch's opinion. "Thank you, but really all my job amounts to is a willingness to listen and offer what advice I can."

"But you devoted time to your chosen profession, you choose to share the burdens of those you travel with. That says much about you." Leliana countered, a smile tugging at her lips as she met Dinah's gaze, her eyes alight with praise for her willingness to help those around her in her unique way.

"Your praise isn't necessary, but it's not unwelcome either." Dinah chuckled warmly before her smile fell and her visage turned far more somber. "I think you can guess where Richard, Megan, Wolf, and Zatanna have gone." When Leliana nodded her head, Dinah continued. "I can guess with reasonable certainty that Richard and Zatanna will return, but I can't say the same about Megan." Or Wolf, but only because the beast had shifted his protection to the martian, meaning if she stayed on Earth, he'd naturally remain at her side.

"I understand, and I would not blame her for wanting to stay where you've all come from." Leliana replied, although her slightly downcast gaze said she hoped she didn't remain beyond the Eluvian. Dinah shared the Sister's sentiments but not for the same reasons, but she remained silent on the matter, letting Leliana continue unabated. "It is no easy thing, losing someone you have shared such time with, have trusted with your life and your heart."

Something in Leliana's tone suggested, and not for the first time, that the pretty redhead was speaking from personal experience. Unlike Megan however, Dinah could hear a note of bitterness and something else in Leliana's voice, something that told her that the Chantry priestess's loss was different from the martian's. She hid it well, but to someone of Dinah's skill in reading the subtlest of clues, regardless if it was the way someone moved or how they spoke, it was still there plain as day. For now she filed it away, determined to bring it up when she felt more assured of Leliana's loyalties and had gained her trust further.

Instead she nodded in agreement and leaned back a little. "I agree, which is why I hope Megan returns. Leaving things unfinished will only be detrimental in the long term, but it is still her choice whether or not she sees this through to the end. But to answer your unspoken question as to _why_ they left, it's hoped that with Richard cured of whatever sickness the darkspawn passed onto him, it'll help our world fight off the monsters on our world."

"That makes sense, and I assume the others went with him to pass on whatever information they've gathered to those that fight the darkspawn for much the same reason." Although Leliana suspected, and Dinah guessed she was leaving much unsaid, that there was far more to it than simple intelligence sharing guiding their actions, even if said information would no doubt help their allies turn the tide further.

"Exactly." Dinah agreed to both comments, spoken and not alike. The knowing gleam in Leliana's gaze said she had gotten the message, proving yet again that there was far more to the redhead than met the eye. Despite this, Dinah felt comfortable around the woman, and was willing to give her a little trust in what she decided to reveal next. "You probably guessed by now most of them have people waiting for them back where we come from." She said, giving voice to the previously unstated comment from earlier.

"Of course." Leliana agreed, the light in her blue eyes saying she had assumed that much was obvious from the start.

Dinah hesitated, unsure on how to phrase what she needed to get across to someone who didn't understand what it was they did on a regular basis. The heroics, the life threatening missions they undertook, everything they did was vastly different from anything those in Ferelden were familiar with, and as such she didn't know how to explain why this was so hard on them.

She needn't have bothered when Leliana surprised her by what she said next. "Your world might be different from this one, but I don't need Megan's unique gifts to know that they haven't had to kill to protect those around them before, Dinah. Richard's hesitance was quite plain when we were in the tavern in Lothering, faced with Loghain's men. Personally I was glad he let them go, even though I am sure Morwen wouldn't have been so lenient if it had just been her and Artemis."

"There's more, much more, to it than that, but that's the gist of it." Dinah admitted, and had to take a moment to center her thoughts at Leliana's surprisingly keen observation. After she gave it some consideration though, Dinah figured it hadn't been so hard to notice how revulsed Richard might have been about needlessly killing men that had been already beaten down by the time he and the others arrived.

Leliana continued on, forcing Dinah back to the present. "I imagine there is quite a tale there, but I get the feeling it wouldn't do to put it to song." The formerly accused bard said, her gaze once more flickering downward even as Dinah picked up on a less than subtle note of immense curiosity regarding her strange companions, herself included she was willing to bet.

"No, it wouldn't." Dinah agreed softly, before shaking her head and looking up at Leliana with intense interest. "I already know you lied to Morwen, or rather tried to, about being a bard, but you're entitled to your secrets Leliana. But that would explain how you were so easily able to pick up on so much about the group without them actively telling you themselves if I correctly understand just what a bard is here in Thedas. It would also explain how you were able to get so close to Megan. However," She held up a hand before the woman could try and no doubt defend herself, her blue eyes widening in shock at being accused, "I am not against it. You know how to fight, how to talk to and read people, albeit differently from myself, and you know the lay of the land better than us by far. Any one of those would have made you useful, but all three and more I imagine, make you an asset I think we'd be foolish to throw away, regardless of your past. Besides, you've given me no reason not to trust you, and I know you must have very good reasons for denying what you used to be. If I were to make an educated guess, you've been trying to leave that life behind. And if I'm right, then rest easy in the knowledge you wouldn't be the first I've come across with a sketchy past, who have tried to turn their lives around. Most have even succeeded."

Leliana visibly relaxed even before Dinah put a hand on the woman's knee and smiled warmly at her. She sighed and looked down at the floor between them, her red, short bangs partially covering her blue eyes as Dinah pulled her hand away. "It is true, but it depends on your point of view. I am no longer a bard, having put that life behind me as you already guessed. I buried everything I once used in that life, literally and otherwise, so in a way, I told Morwen the truth. That part of me died when I was betrayed."

Dinah only nodded, having gathered as much by now as Leliana slowly looked up, the mask she had worn until now having finally crumbled to reveal just a glimpse of the emotional scars before the ex-spy managed to regain her composure. But Dinah had seen the pain in those pretty blue eyes, and instead scooted a little closer before putting her hand on Leliana's shoulder before she could get to her feet. "You don't have to tell me what happened, but I want you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always willing to listen. And, I suspect I wouldn't be the only one." Leliana only nodded, touched by Dinah's concern for her well being and her willingness to give her a chance despite knowing what she had once been as she left the tent.

Unbeknownst to either, Artemis had been listening to every word thanks in no small part to a short range bug she had planted inside Dinah's tent, at Richard's recommendation no less. "And now I feel like a giant ass." The blonde grumbled to herself as she deactivated the hidden mic with a flick of a switch on her belt. She had heard every word spoken between the two women, and had heard the very real quiver and underlying sorrow in Leliana's voice. No one she knew could act half as well, so to say her opinion of the bard had changed would have been an understatement as she turned to Morwen, who had been sitting right next to her, her ear pressed firmly to the small radio receiver the archer had set up between them.

The glow in Morwen's blue eyes had dimmed at the revelation that the Chantry sister was just as scarred as the rest of them, and only shook her head as Artemis tucked away the small device into her utility belt before moving to dismantle the rest of her listening post. "It would seem we gravely misjudged the Chantry sister, although I must profess I am astounded by your level of technology, Artemis."

"It's not so impressive when you're surrounded by stuff like this all the time." The archer retorted, not about to admit the same thing as the rogue beside her as she stood to her feet and dusted her butt off, knocking loose a few pieces of bark from the log they had been sitting on, having found a clearing not far from their main camp site where Artemis had set up shop. Not that she needed to say it aloud since a glance at Morwen said she could see the same understanding in Artemis's gray orbs. With a huff, she threw her hands into the air. "Fine, yes, we didn't give her the credit she deserved, happy?"

"Yes." Morwen replied simply before she stood to her feet and leaned back, one hand pressed firmly to the center of her back. A pop followed and she groaned in relief as she turned to face Artemis fully, her hooded face unreadable. "While I am glad we learned what we have, I feel guilty for invading on such a private moment."

"Nothing for it now….but yeah, I hear ya, Morwen. But can you blame me for being paranoid about the redhead?" Artemis asked, to which the former Cousland could only shake her head.

That didn't stop Morwen from correcting the archer however. "Leliana."

" _Leliana_ , whatever." Artemis grumbled in retort before she sighed heavily. "It was so much easier to see her as a potential spy."

"Technically she _is_ a spy, and a dangerous one at that." Morwen replied immediately before softening her tone just as quickly. "Or at least she was, but I understand what you're saying. It was far easier to see her as an enemy, not as a friend simply acting selflessly to help another."

"It didn't help she latched onto Megan mere days after Conner….after he died at Ostagar. So of course Dick and I were suspicious." Artemis stated, but even as the words left her mouth, she felt her cheeks turn a shade darker in shame from thinking the worst about the woman.

Morwen only twisted the proverbial knife further by what she said next. "Makes you wonder in what kind of world we live in when it is natural to anticipate betrayal instead of welcoming help when it is offered."

Artemis only sighed and watched the rogue walk away, unable to come up with a snappy comeback to that. While she could have called out Morwen's natural distrust of the qunari, the archer found she didn't have it in her to say a word. Things truly had changed, and most of it hadn't been for the better.

"I could have told you the Sister was no threat to us." Whirling around on her heel, longbow drawn and an arrow knocked, Artemis relaxed when she saw it was only Camdor leaning against a tree. He only raised an eyebrow at the bow pointed in his direction. He merely walked up to the woman as she sheathed her chosen weapon and put a hand on her shoulder. "I do not blame you for your distrust, not after all we've endured. Loghain's betrayal, the fact we're all wanted criminals now, and….the losses we've all endured, they would make anyone question everything around them."

Artemis got the impression he wanted to say more, but she looked away and said nothing as she gently pulled her shoulder free of the elf's grasp. Camdor accepted the gesture without complaint and brushed by, planning to head back to camp ahead of her, leaving Artemis in the clearing, alone with her thoughts. If he had stayed around, he would have seen her fall to the log behind her, pull out a locket she kept underneath her armor, and promptly bury her head in her hands after letting the circular encased lightning bolt shaped locket fall to her chest. He heard her quiet sobs however, but while he was torn by the desire to return to her side, to offer what comfort he could, Camdor knew better after the time they had already spent together. She suffered alone because that was all she knew how to do, and to accept his aid and offer of comfort would be seen as an admission of weakness, although it would have been anything but in his eyes. So instead he stood watch over the clearing, his ears twitching with every quiet noise the archer uttered.

Alistair meanwhile found himself in the uncomfortable position of being stared at by Dinah. He'd been half tempted to run when he had seen the older blonde coming his way with Morwen coming back from setting up traps around the camp's perimeter, or so she'd said anyway, but instead Alistair had sighed and put down his sword and shield against the stump he'd been sitting on, having planned to take the first watch of the night. It was probably just as well since he had a feeling he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight, darkspawn related nightmares notwithstanding.

To make matters worse, Dinah had smiled warmly upon seeing his discomfort, and beckoned him to the tent where he'd seen most of his companions enter at some point or another. He honestly didn't know what he thought about Dinah's profession as a psychologist, a healer of the mind apparently, only that if it entailed what he thought it did, he wasn't going to enjoy the experience. No one had said what it was they had talked about with the woman, but judging from their assorted facial expressions, ranging from pained to downright embarrassed, Alistair had a fairly good guess she asked very pointed questions about their recent experiences, among other things.

"There's no need to react to my presence in such a way, Alistair." Dinah said humorously as Alistair shifted about on the ground in front of her. "I don't bite."

"Sorry, just never had to talk to...someone like you before."

Dinah chuckled but nodded, unable to help the smile on her face since out of most of their companions, Alistair and Zatanna shared similar habits of using humor to deflect probing questions. "I gathered that. Do you need me to explain exactly why I called you here?"

"Oh I have a few ideas from what the others have said about you. You're quite the avid listener, but you don't talk about what's shared in this tent. That about the general idea?" Alistair asked, to which Dinah nodded.

"Pretty much, but there's a bit more to it than that. I do offer advice where I can as well." She explained, and patiently waited for what the ex-Templar had to say next.

Alistair shifted again and tried his best not to blush. He was alone in a tent with a rather beautiful woman, and they were merely talking. His few fantasies of finding himself alone with a woman hadn't included talking. Still, he managed to banish those thoughts to the side and managed a simple response, although he sounded dubious about the idea. "I see."

"You're not convinced." It wasn't a question, but at least the ex-Templar had the decency not to have immediately dismissed her out of hand as Morrigan had.

"Well, I just don't know what I could talk about with you is all." Alistair said smiling, though it was obvious that his cheerfulness was forced.

Dinah had expected as much, and decided to gently steer the conversation towards Ostagar rather than jumping right into it as she had with Leliana, where she knew from talking with Richard, that was where Alistair had lost all he had come to hold dear, mainly Duncan. From what the young detective had figured out on their way to Lothering, Alistair had held the Grey Warden in very high esteem. "Why don't we start with something easy? You could tell me about your days in the Chantry, training to become a Templar."

"I could do that, sure." Alistair replied, and visibly relaxed, albeit only slightly. "What did you want to know?"

"Whatever comes to mind." Dinah prodded gently, her warm smile never faltering. It was an easy task though since Alistair was an easy person to talk to.

"Alright, easy things first." Alistair agreed and pretended to think about it carefully. "Well, I guess you could say that I wasn't exactly happy there, and I was hardly something that the Chantry would consider as a good Templar. The revered mother and I despised each other, or more like she despised me and my attitude _probably_ didn't help. Still, she rather wanted to keep me than lose me to the Grey Wardens. No idea why though."

"Must have been your winning personality." Dinah replied, earning a heartfelt laugh from the man across from her. She smiled a little wider, glad to have set Alistair more at ease around her as she waited for his laughs to die down. What she had to ask next would determine where she went next with her line of questioning. "Why weren't you happy at the Chantry?"

Alistair's smile darkened considerably as he sighed heavily. "Well, there's a couple reasons I could go into really. The biggest one is that I'm a bastard, and before you make a joke of that, I mean the royal kind."

"Ah." Dinah replied, and nodded her head in understanding. "And since you weren't raised in the capital, I'm going to make a guess here and say your father sent you to live at Redcliffe." While it had been suspected, again by Richard, that Alistair was related to the late King Cailan, it was nice to have confirmation right from the horse's mouth. It certainly explained a great deal about the man in front of her, as well as part of why Loghain had felt the need to betray the Grey Wardens. It also explained why Alistair felt so strongly about returning to Redcliffe as soon as they could, and not just to gather an army against the darkspawn.

"With Arl Eamon and his wife, _Isolde_." The animosity he put on that single word spoke volumes. "The Arl's wife didn't approve of me. There was a huge argument and well, it ended with me being sent to the Chantry."

"Do you have any idea why she disliked you so much?" Dinah could make a few educated guesses, but she wanted to hear what Alistair thought. So she kept her opinions to herself.

"The only thing I can think of is that she saw me as a threat to her future children. She was probably afraid that Arl Eamon would prefer me over her trueborn son, Connor. That and she's just a generally vile woman, but I might be a bit biased in my opinion." Alistair made the last sound like one of his customary jokes, but Dinah could see the very clear anger in his hard, flinty gaze.

"I see. That's actually not as uncommon as you might think, but I'm glad to see you've turned out pretty decently despite what you've endured to get this far Alistair."

"Thanks...I think."

"That was a compliment, trust me." Dinah reassured him before waiting a beat to ask her next question. "Despite your relationship with Isolde, you still love Arl Eamon." It wasn't so much a question as a statement, but Alistair nodded his head all the same and said as much. "You see him as a surrogate father figure, so it makes sense you'd want to go back to Redcliffe first for that reason alone."

"That and we need his support if we're to have any chance against Loghain. Arl Eamon is well loved by most of the nobility, and with him at our side, we'd be able to gain enough support to hopefully force Loghain to step down as Regent. But personally, yes, I just want to know he's well. Ser Donnel, a Redcliffe knight I met while we were in Lothering, told me he'd been sick since before Ostagar." Alistair sighed and threw his hand up in the air before slapping it down on his knee.

She couldn't blame him for feeling frustrated and helpless. His reasons were perhaps personal, but at least it would also ensure them another ally if all went well. Although Dinah had serious doubts that it would be that easy since it had never been easy before, so why would it start now. She pushed those thoughts back though, instead focusing on the task in front of her. They'd cross that bridge when they had to. "I know it won't be easy, especially with all that's happened Alistair, but we will get through this. You might be a Grey Warden, but you're also a person, never forget that. It's not a sign of weakness to ask for help, no matter its form. If you ever need to talk, about anything, I'm here." She smiled and a slightly mischievous gleam entered her blue eyes. "I imagine Zatanna would be happy to listen as well."

She had to bite her tongue when Alistair jumped to his feet and waved his hands in front of him. "Whoa! Where did that come from? I mean….uh...she's...yeah...not talking about this right now."

"Talking about what?" Dinah asked, feigning complete innocence. She had heard about the incident at the hot spring from Zatanna herself, so she wasn't at all surprised Alistair looked ready to swallow his tongue.

"Look, nothing happened. I swear! I didn't see anything!"

"Alistair, calm down." Dinah reprimanded him gently, just able to stop herself from laughing at the man's completely flustered expression. "Zatanna told me what happened."

"Andraste's flaming sword." He groaned and flopped down onto his butt in front of Dinah once more. "It was completely accidental."

"I know, and she said as much, although tying you to a tree might have been a little overkill." She mused, her eyes alight in badly disguised delight. Dinah's amused expression softened almost immediately though before she asked her next question. "But it does raise a question I think you might be wise to give some serious consideration. Despite being an ex-Templar, do you...how to put this as delicately as I can?"

She needn't have bothered as Alistair groaned again and held up a hand to stop Dinah. "Yes I like her." He admitted, his cheeks as red as they were likely to get. "Not sure if anything could come of it, since I'm not exactly free to choose who I want with the way things are right now, and that's not even considering my status as a royal bastard. Maker's breath, I really don't want to rule, but I might have to if no other option presents itself. Besides, you'd be heading back after the Blight's dealt with I imagine."

Dinah nodded, but she put a hand on Alistar's shoulder when he looked ready to start pacing. "We would yes, but that's not to say all of us has to return, or stay on our side of the mirror. Besides, it's still way too early to guess what the future holds Alistair. The future might very well surprise you."

"Thanks. Can we talk about something else, please?" Alistair begged her, flustered, and clearly uncomfortable with their current topic.

Dinah finally chuckled and nodded. "Very well." She relented, and let the rest of their assigned hour pass by as the man wished. She made a mental note to talk about Duncan at another time, but she had gotten plenty to think about thanks to Alistair. Once she had sent Alistair on his way with a request to send Morwen to her tent, Dinah waited patiently for the raven haired woman to arrive. She didn't have to wait long as her tent flap opened and admitted the last of the Couslands.

She was slightly taken aback when Morwen pulled her dark black hood down and let her lustrous raven locks fall unimpeded down her shoulders before sitting down cross legged before her. The fact her dagger belt and her sword was absent from her person said a great deal as well, but Dinah could still make out a just noticeable imprint of a hidden blade in her right boot. Morwen was trusting her, not completely perhaps, but she could work with that. Before she could open her mouth to start her line of questions, Richard stuck his head into the tent only to stop and shut the flap when he saw Dinah wasn't alone. She'd get to him and whoever had returned when she was done here.

"They're all back, even Megan." Morwen answered Dinah's unspoken question. When the woman's pale blue eyes fell on the rogue, she repeated herself. "They returned just as Alistair asked me to see you."

"Thank you for letting me know Morwen. So, how are you doing, truly?" Dinah asked, getting right to the point with the noble before her. Leliana she had purposely danced about at first, playing along with the former bard's desire to talk about most anything else before suddenly changing tactics to get her off balance. She had used a similar tactic with Alistair, but Morwen she knew wouldn't appreciate needless dancing about. She was too blunt and honest for that, so Dinah shifted her tactic appropriately.

"I am well enough." The woman answered evenly, her stare fixed on Dinah's eyes.

Denial, suppression, all of this and more Dinah had expected, but she couldn't in good conscience let it remain unaddressed. "Morwen, I understand that you've recently suffered great personal loss, and I would under-"

"My personal feelings are not up for debate. They will not impair our mission." Morwen told her coldly. "Right now I don't have time to think about what happened, I have a duty to the people of Ferelden. As such, I will make sure that it is done."

"Is that why you fight? To protect your people?"

"It is. My parents made sure that I understood that the duty of a noble was to ensure the wellbeing of our subjects. It is not a privilege, it is a responsibility that must be handled with care." Despite her earlier comment about keeping her personal feelings to herself, that didn't stop Morwen from looking down at the floor between them. Her bright blue eyes misted over as unshed tears pooled within the luminescent orbs. "Yet I still feel I failed them…. I should have fought harder, done more. I am a disgrace to my family, the only thing that I have left now is my duty, and my pursuit of those that are responsible."

"Do you know who is responsible?" Dinah asked softly, having a feeling she already knew the answer.

"Arl Rendon Howe." Morwen growled out, her eyes alight with hatred.

"You knew him." It wasn't a question.

"He was a friend of my family. I considered him an uncle, and once he wanted to arrange a marriage between me and his son Thomas. I...favored the youngest honestly, Nathaniel. His oldest never sat well with me for some reason. Now I believe I can guess why."

"I'm sorry to hear that you had to endure something like that." Dinah replied with as much sympathy as she could muster before asking the question she dreaded the answer to. She had a feeling she knew the answer to it already, but she needed to know for certain. "What are you going to do?"

"I will kill Howe... and all who have schemed with him." Morwen stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Dinah said the first thing that came to mind as her pale blue eyes hardened and bore holes through the woman in front of her. "Revenge will not help you Morwen."

"It is not revenge that I seek. Otherwise I would repay him in kind and make sure that his entire family suffered as mine did." The dark clad woman growled out. "Traitors deserve nothing but death, especially traitors like Howe."

"There's a very thin line between justice and self serving revenge, Morwen. I just hope you don't cross that line when and if you get a chance to ask him why he did what he did."

When Morwen snapped her head up and met Dinah's hard stare with one of her own, the older blonde didn't flinch in the slightest as the rogue growled out every word that escaped from her clenched teeth. "Do not presume to lecture me. Ask him why he did it? What reason could excuse the atrocities he committed? He attacked our castle at night. _No one_ was spared. _No one_! I watched my home burn, oaths broken, countless lives lost. I cannot forgive." Dinah didn't stop her when Morwen jumped to her feet in one fluid motion and left the tent shaking with barely suppressed rage.

"Well, that could have gone better." The heroine mused quietly to herself. "I take it you heard all that _Dick_?" Dinah asked the tent at large, and frowned when Richard stuck his head into the tent and smiled sheepishly. When she held up the bug he and Artemis had planted, he had the decency to blush. "I found it about two seconds after you had it left here Richard." Dinah grumbled, making her displeasure quite clear at his actions even if she knew he had had a good reason for it.

"Call it an old habit from living with a paranoid Bat." Richard replied in a lame attempt to defend his actions. "I didn't want to leave without a means to watch over the group at large Dinah. That's why I had Artemis set up shop not too far from camp, and why I planted the bug."

"That's why I let it remain for as long as I did." Dinah replied, both touched by his concern for her well being, and more than a little angry for having her private conversations with their companions spied upon. "This will not be happening again Richard." She warned and tossed the bug to the dark clad hero who caught it with a casual flick of his wrist.

Dick sighed and nodded as he tucked the device away into his utility belt before shutting the tent flap behind him. "I had to be sure Dinah. I wouldn't have felt right leaving if I thought for a moment one of our new friends were a danger and I didn't take steps to be sure one way or the other."

"That's why I didn't stomp it under my boot when I found it before calling Leliana in here." Dinah sighed this time and rubbed a hand down her face as Richard sat down across from her. "I appreciate your concern, I do, but that was an extreme invasion of privacy. I can't do my job if I'm worried every word is being recorded."

"I understand, it won't happen again… at least not without reason."

"It won't happen again, _ever_." This was not up for debate, and Richard held up his hands and nodded in agreement to show he got the message. Deciding to change the subject before she blasted Nightwing out of her tent with a Canary Cry, despite his good intentions, Dinah took a deep breath before speaking again. "So what did the League have to say?"

"J'onn took every sample and ran every test he could think of, but we won't have results for at least a few days. Still, he seemed satisfied that the plague was at least contained, but it's not gone. Whatever the Joining was, it didn't cure the disease, it only stopped it from getting worse. It changed me too, made me able to live with it without suffering any ill effects, at least none that we know about anyway. About the only difference I've noticed is an increased appetite." Richard said and shrugged his shoulders.

Dinah visibly relaxed at the news, having been uncertain about just what they had put Richard through to save his life. While it had staved off the plague by all appearances, it felt good to know it had bought them time. How much was still up in the air, but for now it was enough to set Dinah's mind at ease, and she said as much. "At least we now have the time to devise a cure for you."

"Yeah, but I wonder how many people already died back home. I'm the only one who was lucky enough to get 'cured'."

"True, but we know better than anyone we can't save everyone Richard."

"I know, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." Richard replied solemnly, his blue eyed gaze downcast as his messy black hair fell over his eyes when he hung his head. He perked up almost immediately though when he looked back up, a small smirk on his face. "So, I take it you gave Alistair the big 'talk' about him and Zat."

"Out." Dinah commanded, albeit with an amused smirk on her face. Richard grinned back but did as she told him, leaving without another word. Before he slipped out of the tent though, he shot her one last pained look, his mind no doubt a whirl over everything that had happened in the past few weeks. She nodded in understanding before the tent flap closed behind the young man, sealing her inside the cloth structure. They still had a long way to go, and she had a feeling it wasn't going to get any easier.

**The next morning….**

Leliana had been surprised, to say the least, when Artemis had approached her just as she was leaving her tent that morning. The last thing she had expected to hear from the archer was an apology for being, in her own words, a royal bitch to the Chantry priestess. Leliana had only been able to nod dumbly at first at the time. By the time she had regained her ability to speak, Artemis had walked away under the pretense of getting something together for breakfast, despite the fact they had plenty of fresh meat already, all of it in Bodahn's wagon, from the archers' previous trips around the camp site. Both Camdor and Artemis had been quite productive in their efforts of sustaining the entire group.

Having since shaken off her surprise, the former bard, carrying a simple wooden tray to Megan's tent laden with that morning's meal, had the second surprise of her day. Wolf lazily looking up at her was expected when she stuck her head into the small tent, but that was a distant thought when her eyes fell on the sleeping woman herself. "I've heard being green with envy, but this is...new." Leliana mused aloud, too shocked to get her voice above a whisper as her gaze fell on Megan's upper half, the rest covered by the heavy fur blankets most of them had purchased back in Lothering.

The only reason she didn't cry out in alarm was because other than the very unusual skin color, Leliana's eyes could still make out Megan's features quite clearly. Her short, closely cropped red hair, the soft curves to her face and jaw, everything was the same as if someone hadn't decided to dunk her in green skin paint, which someone had actually done back in Orlais during her time as a bard. Body painting had been all the rage at the time.

Shaking that decidedly random thought away, Leliana gingerly stepped closer and set the tray down before squatting next to the sleeping girl. The pain and sorrow that had seemed to have etched itself permanently into her flesh were gone now. When Wolf gently nudged her arm, as if silently agreeing with Leliana's assessment, the woman smiled and idly ran a hand through the giant beast's fur. "She does seem rather content right now, doesn't she boy? It'd be a shame to wake her now."

No sooner had the words left her mouth, did Leliana notice Megan's face start to harden before she rolled away with a soft cry. Wolf let out a concerned whimper just before the green skinned girl sat bolt upright with a gasp, a cold sweat having appeared over her bare skin. Panting heavily, Leliana waited only a moment before putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You're safe Megan. The nightmare is over."

"Leliana?" Megan asked, confused as her brown eyes focused solely on the bard. Leliana only smiled before letting her hand fall to her upper arm and gently squeezed, as if acting as an emotional anchor and grounding her in reality. The gesture brought a weak, grateful smile to Megan's lips, until her eyes fell where Leliana's hand rested. She gasped in alarm, but when her brain caught up with the fact Leliana hadn't already ran away screaming, Megan slumped and let her head fall. "You weren't supposed to see me like this." She whispered and held herself tightly, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I had a funny feeling you hadn't been completely honest with me since we met, but I figured you'd tell me when you were ready." Leliana replied, far more curious than angry over the whole thing. Her next words however were full of concern and worry as she scooted closer to Megan before gently pushing her head up by her chin. She was slightly hurt when the girl's brown eyes flicked away from her face, but Leliana did her best to conceal it. "You don't have to hide from me Megan."

"M'gann…." M'gann replied, and slowly let her eyes drift to the bard's face. "My real name is M'gann Morzz. Megan Morse is just my human name."

"Alright, M'gann then. Just what _are_ you?" She asked gently and let her hand fall from M'gann's chin. Instead, Leliana let her hand fall to M'gann's right that had since fallen to her lap.

Before M'gann could reply, Wolf let out a soft bark when the tent flap opened and revealed Zatanna about to step inside. She took one look at the pair, at the martian's green skin and the fact Leliana seemed alright with it, and slowly entered the rest of the way before shutting the flap behind her. Only once they were safely contained from prying eyes did she address them. "I see the cat's out of the bag. I honestly expected this to come out a lot sooner."

"You knew, that is not surprising." Leliana mused and nodded her thanks when Zatanna picked up the tray of food and handed it over to the bard.

"We _are_ old friends." The sorceress replied before turning her full attention on M'gann. "I was just coming in to let you know we were getting ready to head out, and to see if you'd gotten anything to eat, but I see someone else has beaten me to it."

A ghost of a smile tugged at M'gann's lips as she looked between the pair. "Thank you, and yeah I'll be ready soon. Just...give me a few minutes."

"Alright." Zatanna said before subtly jerking her head to the tent's exit. Leliana caught the hint and nodded back before following the raven haired woman outside. Once they had put some distance between them and M'gann, only then did Zatanna pause and turn towards the bard. "I'm gonna take a guess and say you have questions."

"Am I that obvious?" Leliana asked, her voice holding far more amusement at the obvious statement Zatanna had dropped between them. She sobered just as quickly and nodded once she was sure no one was within immediate earshot. "I knew she was different, but that took me by complete surprise."

"I can't imagine why." Zatanna chuckled softly before looking away, towards the dead firepit on their immediate right. "She's not a demon or a spirit or anything like that. She was born able to change her shape at will, as well as the mental abilities you already know about."

"She can shape change? Like Morrigan?" Leliana asked, more to clarify what Zatanna had said already than anything else.

"There's no magic involved with how Megan does it, but yeah, basically." Zatanna agreed as Richard walked by. A subtle look passed between them and she mouthed 'Megan', which seemed to be enough before he walked away with a shake of his head. "As for what she really, truly looks like Leliana, that I won't tell you, because it goes with part of why she chooses to appear human. I know her, and she'll tell you when she's ready, but until then, just keep doing what you've been doing."

"I will, and I won't let her down." Leliana promised, although Zatanna got the impression her words had been meant for everyone.

As such, Zatanna smiled and nodded in appreciation for the bard's continued support. "Glad to hear it." Parting ways, Zatanna just started back to her tent, only to find someone else had already torn it down for her. "Huh, that works too I suppose." She mused before she started to turn only to bump into Alistair. Both gave a startled yelp as Zatanna's hands instinctively went out to grasp the front of his armored chest just as his hand caught her around her waist to prevent her from falling to the dirt.

Time froze for a moment as both stared into the other's eyes, unable to pull away. Brown met cyan, and the sorceress felt immediately spellbound, a decidedly odd feeling for someone in her line of work, but she wasn't complaining either as she forgot the world around her and simply stared longingly into Alistair's deep, chestnut brown eyes. Reality caught up with them though when a tree branch broke somewhere in the distance, and they hurriedly pulled away with muttered apologies. "So...right, I'm gonna...just pretend I didn't blunder into you like a complete idiot." Alistair rapidly stated, his cheeks a bright red as he fumbled about with his hands uselessly.

"Yeah, same here." Zatanna hurriedly replied, just as flustered as he felt as she fought down the unfamiliar feelings churning around in her gut. She was no stranger to attraction by any means, but this had been something else entirely. Realizing too late what she had said, Zatanna spun around on her heel and blushed brightly. "I didn't mean you were the idiot. Oh...just...can we forget this happened?" She asked lamely, her cyan eyes downcast as a stray breeze tugged at her voluminous hair, pulling a fair bit of it over her right shoulder.

Alistair chuckled nervously as he turned to face her and nodded, one hand rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Of course. I mean it's fine. Yeah….let's forget this happened and go about our day shall we?" Alistair replied hesitantly, hoping that'd be the end of it as he fought down his own fair share of unfamiliar emotions swirling about his chest. _Maker's breath she is beauti- no! Bad Alistair, stop it. You already know she likely won't stay after this is over._

"Good, okay." Zatanna agreed, perhaps a bit too quickly, and let Alistair pass before slowly turning to watch him walk away with as much dignity he could muster. _At least the view's nice. Just look at that a- Zatanna! Get a grip! Yes he's handsome, but you aren't staying here. You'd only end up hurting him if you started something._ She mentally berated herself and shook her head rapidly in an effort to clear her mind. The last thing she could afford was to give into such distractions. Sighing heavily, Zatanna hurriedly walked away to see if Bodahn needed any help in getting ready for the rest of the trip.

On her way there, she saw Richard and Morwen looking over various maps, discussing something with each other. Probably the best route to their various destinations, and possible ambush places along those. She could hardly fault them. Thus far, things hadn't exactly gone their way, so the fact they were being a bit paranoid about future trouble was in a way, a load off her mind.

"They are wise to plan for future engagements against the traitorous Loghain and his allies. Not to mention these darkspawn I have heard so much about." Zatanna about jumped out of her boots when Sten spoke aloud for the first time without someone talking to him first. Spinning on her heel, the sorceress looked up at the giant...man was a bit of a stretch, since he was gray as ash and taller than even Mal Duncan, one of the tallest people she knew back home. And he was built like a tank, making his imposing figure that much more intimidating. Though she had to admit that his apparent perma-glare didn't help either. When he turned his gaze on her, Zatanna crossed her arms and tried to hold his stern, intense stare, but it was like looking at a wall. "For a Bas Saarebas, you are not what I expected."

"A what now?"

"Non qunari mage, a dangerous thing." He explained before seeming to regain his earlier thread of thought. "We will find a way to stop the Blight, I thought that much was obvious. Although, I find it strange and a waste of time that we go further away from the enemy instead of towards it."

"We need to gather allies, otherwise we won't be able to stop the Blight." Zatanna said patiently, even if she was a little confused. Surely he knew this, or did he truly know so little about a Blight that he thought it was nothing more but a challenging hunt for the Archdemon. The fact his face was so hard to read didn't make it any easier to figure out what he might have been thinking about them all, let alone the situation at hand. Still, that didn't stop her from trying to get through to Sten. "Killing the Archdemon won't be the hard part, finding it among its thousands of soldiers will. We wouldn't stand a chance on our own, even with all of our various talents and abilities."

"There is wisdom in your words, but I thought Grey Wardens were supposed to be powerful warriors without equal. I see those stories were grossly exaggerated." Sten countered, and Zatanna noted his hand went for the giant sword sheath on his back, a sword sheath that was noticeably empty. When he realized this, he immediately dropped his hand to the side and seemed to noticeably sag ever so slightly, as if recalling something unpleasant.

Despite this, Zatanna was quick to defend herself and those she traveled with as she put her hands on her hips. "Even great warriors can fall without preparing for the fights ahead."

"Even the strongest warrior can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, and you would do well not to judge our abilities until you have seen them for yourself. Or do the qunari know so little of warfare that they take appearence as facts?" Morwen asked coldly from the side, her eyes glaring daggers into the qunari's back. "If you have any viable suggestions I will be willing to hear them out, until then I would prefer it if you remain silent." A hand on the rogue's shoulder stopped Morwen from saying anything further, but that didn't stop her from looking at Richard with almost equal animosity. He jerked his hand back but didn't flinch away from her cold glare.

Instead he looked up towards Sten and nodded, as if having come to some internal decision before he spoke. "I understand it's frustrating, believe me I get it Sten, but the others are right. We've already gotten beaten by the darkspawn once, because we underestimated our enemy and because we ourselves were betrayed by Loghain. We need another army if we're to have any chance against them a second time, that's why we're going to Redcliffe and the rest of the places mentioned in the treaties Alistair has on him. Only then can we hope to beat these guys back."

Sten stared at the two for the longest time, before slowly nodding his head in reluctant agreement. "Very well." With that, he marched away, eerily silent despite his massive footsteps.

"That was...odd." Zatanna mused as she joined Richard and Morwen at their improvised table, which was covered with maps of the area. "I think that's the most he's said since we picked him up in Lothering."

"I think you should have left him in that cage personally." Morwen muttered quietly without looking up from the map in front of her.

"He's willing to atone for his crimes, and leaving him for the darkspawn just seemed plain wrong." Zatanna shot back.

"We'll see, just because he claims to regret the murders doesn't mean that he is. People are rarely what they appear to be." Morwen answered slowly. "Though I could be wrong I admit. For all our sakes, I hope I am. If you'll excuse me, I will try to gather my thoughts."

Richard waited until Morwen had walked away to share a less than subtle look with Zatanna before a sly smirk pulled at his lips despite the tense mood the rogue had left behind in her wake. "She has no idea how ironic that statement is." He sobered just as quickly though when he looked down at the map between them. "Leliana took it well at least, but I'm not about to take the chance with the rest of the group, Sten especially given his dislike of mages."

"What makes you say that? The fact he called me a 'dangerous thing'?"

"The fact they apparently sew mages' mouths shut and slap spiked collars on their necks where he comes from did that." Richard replied, and braced himself for the horror to dawn on his old friend's face. He didn't have to wait long.

"They _what_?" Zatanna asked aghast and looked at her long time friend in horror. "Where was I when this conversation was happening?"

"Hanging Alistair from a tree." Richard replied and managed a brief, amused grin when Zatanna's horror gave way to embarrassment.

"Oh." She replied simply before her earlier shock returned. "That still seems a little extreme though. Makes the Tranquility stuff Alex told me about seem mild by comparison."

"At least you're still you with how the qunari do it from what I understood." Richard retorted, and couldn't blame the shudder that passed through the sorceress's body. "I think we got off lucky when it comes to magic back home Zat. All this stuff about demons and their Fade and everything else is just….I don't even know where to start with it really." He continued and couldn't help the shiver that went down his spine as his thoughts wandered to places he never would have considered before coming to Thedas.

"And you don't even have to worry about the worst of it. It's not really surprising why the people of this world has a thing against magic just from what I've heard from Alex." _That and you don't have a demon after you almost every night you pass out._ Zatanna thought darkly, just managing to keep her fear of Lilith continuing to pester her from appearing on her face.

"Doesn't make it right." He argued stubbornly, which earned him a smile from the raven haired sorceress.

"That we can agree on." Doing her best to push those disturbing thoughts away, Zat leaned on the stump and sighed as she crossed her arms under her chest. "Think we'll make it to Redcliffe in the next two days? Alistair seems genuinely worried about Arl Eamon from what I've been able to get out of him."

Richard nodded and stood to his full height before crossing his arms over the insignia on his chest. "If we don't get rained on again, I think we'll manage it. After our luck so far though, it wouldn't surprise me if they're having trouble that we'll have to clean up as soon as we get there."

"It wouldn't surprise me either. Let's hope we're wrong, for once."

"I wouldn't hold my breath."

_End Notes:_ _**Vergil1989** _ _: This would have come out a bit sooner, but we made a mistake and had to end up rewriting the entire thing. The first iteration had the League appearing in the Eluvian chamber, meeting most of the current team from Ferelden, as well as letting Kaldur join them. The fact it felt very rushed and badly thought out in hindsight was why it was decided we needed to start fresh. We apologize for the wait, and yet another delay before we get to Redcliffe, but we hope this variation is far more up to our usual standards. Enjoy folks, and don't worry, Redcliffe is good and ready to appear next chapter._

_**Nomad-117:**_ _Yeah, that and we were like really busy with real life. Still, sorry for the long wait. Anyway, the team is making its way to Redcliffe where they will see the joys of demon infestation and other stuff out of nightmares. But don't worry there is more, our brave heroes will face even more murderous stuff before all is said and done. Excited yet? Good._


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